LIBRARY OF CO?(GRESS. 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



MEMORIALS OF THE SEA. 




^abfiatftsi in tbt arctic ^t^ion^. 



THE REV. WILLIAM SCOEESBY, D.D. 



FELLOW OF THE KOTAL SOCIETIES OF LONDON AND EDINBURGH; 
MEMBER OF THE INSTITUTE OF FRANCE; OF THE 
A3IERICAN INSTITUTE, PHILADELPHIA, 
ETC. ETC. 



•' The works of the Lord are gi-eat, sought out of all them that hare 
pleasure therein." — Psahn cxi. 2. 



LONDON : 

LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONGMANS. 




^econU dEtittion. 



1850, 




LONDON: 

PRINTED BY M. MASON, IVY LANE, ST. PAULS. 



The LiiiAiV 

OF Co!^^ t. :# 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



" The Memorials of the Sea/' which for a number 
of years have been out of print, are herein repro- 
duced in a different and more extended form. The 
subjects treated of being very diverse, it seemed 
desirable so to arrange them, as to have the longer 
narratives, or those on special topics, in separate 
volumes. Whilst this mode of publication will afford 
to all classes of readers the opportunity of making 
their own selection ; it enables the Author to increase 
the extent of some of the more important memorials, 
and may facilitate his intention of adding to the series. 

Under this new arrangement, the Author, if life 
and health be graciously continued to him, might 
be enabled, perhaps, not only to bring out other 
Memorials, the substance and facts of which he has 
long had in hand ; but to condense the subjects of his 
larger publications, which have been long inaccessible 
to the general reader, into convenient and inexpensive 
volumes. Or, in pursuit of his plan, he might endea- 
vour to produce the incidents of an early life, in 
no ordinary degree adventurous, as a contribution to 
the supply of recreative, and he would earnestly hope 
not unprofitable, reading, which in these modern 
days has become a staple demand in literature. In 
the contemplation of such an object, he trusts he can 



VI 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



conscientiously say, that his anxious and prayerful 
desire is, to consecrate the observations of nature in 
regions rarely visited by ordinary travellers, together 
with the incidents of personal or relative adventure, 
to the great end of man's creation ; to render them 
subservient, as far as he may be enabled, to the 
edification of the reader, and to the glory of God ! 

The "Sabbaths in the Arctic Regions" will be 
found to be considerably extended, and, it is pre- 
sumed, in various respects improved. The Sabbath 
question being now so much agitated, and the sacred 
observance, as a commanded duty, so much ques- 
tioned, the Author has more than ordinary encourage- 
ment in presenting anew his personal experiences 
thereon ; and he would humbly and prayerfully hope 
that his present publication may be directed by the 
Lord of the Sabbath to the furtherance of principles 
and practices accordant with the Divine mind ! 

Two other volumes, it may be added, are in pro- 
gress — one of them comprising a revised narrative of 
the extraordinary Memorial of the Mary Russell; 
the other a series of Miscellaneous Memorials, aug- 
mented by incidents of life and adventure in respect 
to the Author's Father. 

The AthencBum, London, 
Feb, mh, 1850. 



CONTENTS. 

Page 

Chapter I. — General Testimonies of Nature and Pro- 
vidence TO THE Divine Institution and Perpetuity 
OF the Sabbath ....... 3 

Sect. 1. Introduction 3 

2. The Testimony borne to the Law of the Sabbath, 

by its Influence on the Physical Condition of 
Nature 7 

3. The Testimony to the Law of the Sabbath, from 

its Influence on the Moral Condition of Man . 10 

4. The Testimony of Providence as to a Curse on 

Sabbath Desecration . . . . .17 

5. The Testimony of Providence as to a Blessing on 

the Conscientious Observance of the Sabbath . 20 

Chapter II. — Special Testimonies of Providence on 
Temporal Prosperity to Sabbath Observances in , 
the Arctic Regions 26 

Sect. 1. Preliminary Observations . . . . ,26 

2. Indications of a Providential Blessing, in connection 

with Sabbath Forbearance, in the Fishery of 
1820 .32 

3. Capture of a Whale of uncommon size, after a 

peculiar Exercise of Self-denial, in honour of 
the Sabbath, on the preceding day , , .42 



Vlll 



CONTENTS. 



Page 

Sect. 4. Remarkable Indications of a Providential Blessing 

in the Fishery of 1823 48 

5. Trying Case of Forbearance in the Fishery of 1823, 

followed by the usual Testimony . . .54 

6. Indications of a Providential Rebuke for Sabbath 

Violation ....... 57 

7. General Results of the foregoing Testimonies . 66 

Chapter III. — Apparent Testimonies of Providence to 
THE Sabbath, as indicated by striking Deliver- 
ances FROM perilous SITUATIONS . . . .71 

Sect. 1. Preliminary Observations . . . . .71 

2. Record of a happy Deliverance from a perilous 

Situation in the Arctic Seas, at the Conclusion 

of the Sabbath 72 

3. Providential Manifestations, in connection with 

Sabbath-day Duties, experienced in a striking 
Deliverance from a most dangerous Entangle- 
ment among the Arctic Ices . . . .85 

Chapter IV. — Supplementary and Cognate Testimonies 111 

Sect. 1. Cognate Testimony of Mr. W , an American, 

to a blessing on Sabbath Observance . .111 

2. Record of the D family, as Illustrative of the 

special benefits of a Religious Life . . .122 

Chapter V. — General Results of the Testimonies of 
Nature and Providence to the Sabbath, with a 
Plea for its Observance 145 



MEMORIALS OF THE SEA. 



OR 

TESTIMONIES OF NATURE AND PROVIDENCE TO THE 
DIVINE INSTITUTION AND PERPETUITY 
OF THE SABBATH. 



B 



SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 



" The Sabbath was made for Man." — Mark ii. 27. 



Chapter I. 

GENERAL TESTIMONIES OF NATURE AND PROVIDENCE 
TO THE DIVINE INSTITUTION AND PERPETUITY 
OF THE SABBATH. 



Section I. — Introduction. 



Though the institution of the Sabbath is found 
recorded in the fore-front of the appointments of 
God, embodied among the ten precepts of the moral 
law, and repeatedly enforced by Moses and the Pro- 
phets ; yet its perpetuity of obligation, is, with many 
persons amongst us, unhappily questioned. Whilst 
the nine other commandments of the Almighty are 
acknowledged to be of universal authority — as con- 
stituting the plain and undisputed rule of man's 
obedience — this one, though given before any of the 
associated words, is now strangely held by some 
professing Christians, as an appointment binding only 
upon the Jews, but not upon themselves ! And 
although our Lord, as He himself declared, " came 
not to destroy the law or the prophets, but to fulfil ; " 



4 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

whilst he denounced those who should break one of 
the least commandments, and teach men so/' — yet 
this command, thus generally confirmed and guarded, 
is venturously asserted, by many, to be now annulled ! 

But it comports not with the object of this publi- 
cation to controvert the question after the laborious 
and learned methods in which, in modern times, 
it has been taken up, and, in different instances, 
we regret to add, most perniciously pursued. For 
the obvious tendency, and observable effects, of the 
specious arguments and special pleading employed in 
support of the views which we deprecate, may be 
perceived to be, not only to undermine and break 
down the authority of the fourth commandment, but 
to justify and encourage that lamentable desecration 
of the Lord's day so greatly and injuriously prevalent 
throughout the land. Considering the subtle and 
far-fetched reasonings of some of the impugners of 
the perpetuity of the Sabbath, — the masculine efforts 
of mind of others in explaining away the common 
sense of the Word of God, or in confounding the 
natural understanding of man, — one cannot but 
lament such applications of learning as have too often 
produced an undue prejudice on the minds of sincere 
Christians, against those high attainments and supe- 
rior powers of intellect which, when faithfully and 
correctly directed to God's glory, stand forth as the 
most noble endowments of our species. Were such 
the necessary tendencies of superior attainments, — as 
some timid and tender-minded persons, among our 



DIVINE INSTITUTION OF THE SABBATH. 5 

more pious population, misguided by incidental ex- 
amples of the perversion of learning, have mistakenly 
imagined, —then, indeed, one might envy rather the 
faculties of a little child, or be willing to "become a 
fool," so as to " be wise " in the comprehension of 
the Word of God in its simplicity and truth. 

According to the simple tenor of the sacred Scrip- 
tures, if left unperplexed by critical reasonings, and 
unprejudiced by human dogmas, the command plainly 
remains with us of unabated obligation to " Remember 
the Sabbath day to keep it holy." But it is not 
merely an obligation ; it is an appointment full of 
wisdom and mercy. Yet to natural feeling, the law 
of the Sabbath must necessarily be burdensome, and, 
if strictly enforced, will seem an objectionable ordi- 
nance. This, indeed, is an intelligible consequence 
of the deterioration of the faculties and affections of 
humanity by the fall, — that men should be inclined 
to suppose, that any of the commands of God, which 
present a bar to their natural desires or unhallowed 
pleasures, are at once grievous and unnecessary ; and, 
therefore, that they should be disposed to deal with 
them, even by the most vain reasonings or subtleties, 
so that their consciences may find quiet in the 
imagined abrogation, or mitigation of strictness, of 
the ungenial precept. But in our consideration of 
the Divine government, it is most important to be 
borne in mind, that God neither appoints any observ- 
ance, nor gives any command, without a special 
object. He lays no arbitrary demands upon his 



6 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

people ; he denies them no real blessing which they 
are in a condition to receive ; he vexes them by no 
useless burden, nor unnecessary restriction ; but he 
requires them to keep his commandments and statutes 
for their good. And this is one of his gracious statutes, 
involving most essentially the good of mankind — 
" Keep my Sabbaths : I am the Lord your God." 

On this ground even, the seeking of good, — greatly 
inferior though it be as a motive of obedience, to 
that of a sense of obligation due to the command of 
the great God, our Father, — we may obtain a very 
powerful, and, we trust, a persuasive plea, for the 
consecration of a seventh part of our time as a sabbath, 
that it may he well with us, and that a hlessing may 
rest upon the land in which we dwell. In evidence of 
these effects being really derivable from a reverent 
observance of the sacred day of the Lord, it is only 
necessary, with a candid and spiritually enlightened 
mind, to mark the frequent, and ofttimes manifest 
providential attestations which are occurring around 
us. For God doth bear continual witness to His own 
appointment, that the Sabbath is no peculiar law for 
the government of a peculiar people; but that it is part 
and parcel of the constitution of nature, and of the 
order of Providence. And nature itself bears testi- 
mony that the Sabbath is an actual law of Creation; 
and if so, then must it be as perpetual in its obligation 
as the existence of nature in its general constitution. 

Among the various arguments derivable from 
observation of nature and Providence, in relation to 



TESTIMONY OF XATTRE TO THE SABBATH. < 



the law of the Sabbath, we may notice, briefly, the 
following: — the testimony borne to the law of the 
Sabbath by its influence on the physical condition of 
nature, and on the moral condition of man, with the 
testimony of Providence, not unfrequently yielded, as. 
to a curse on Sabbath desecration, and as to a blessing 
on its conscientious observance. 

Section II. — The Testimony home to the Laic of the 
Sahhath, hy its Influence on the Physical Condition 
of Nature. 

In the fruitfulness of the soil of the ground, and in 
the physical vigour of both the lower animals and 
man, we find the most manifest and beneficial influ- 
ence from particular periods of rest, alternating with 
longer periods of laboiu'. 

For the refireshment and in vigor ation of the earth. 
periodical fallows are not only useful, but, if we would 
expect to elicit the best condition of fertility, essential. 
Of this experimental fact, the most eminent and intel- 
ligent agriculturists give the appropriate testimony, 
that where the practice of fallows prevails, '-'the 
farmer's produce and profits are found to be far 
superior to where fallows are omitted.'"' And why? 
Because the constitution of the earth was made sub- 
ject to the law thus experimentally elicited, being 
designed for a periodical portion of rest ; and this 
portion was strictly defined when Jehovah issued the 
decree to Israel, — ^'Six years thou shalt sow thy land, 



8 



SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 



and shall gather in the fruits thereof ; but the seventh 
year thou shalt let it rest and lie still." 

In regard to the physical condition of the animals 
employed in domestic labour^ experience bears witness 
to a similar law, requiring for their health and strength 
the rest of a Sabbath. Take/' for example, " that 
fine animal, the horse, and work him to the full extent 
of his powers every day in the week, or give him rest 
one day in seven, and it will soon be perceived by the 
superior vigour with which he performs his functions 
on the other six days, that this rest is necessary to his 
well being." Of this corroborative fact, the experi- 
ence and observation of one of the most successful 
coach proprietors in the kingdom, afford very striking 
evidence. Speaking with him on the management of 
his well regulated business, he made this remark in 
respect to the number and period of employment of 
his horses, — * that he found it requisite to have a spare 
horse in every six, not only for supplying the place 
of any that might be sick, but, chiefly, for giving 
each horse a day's rest once every week ! For he 
found,' he added, ^ that when the horses were worked 
continually, though employed only for an hour's stage 
to and fro daily, they were rapidly worn out ; it was 
but economy, therefore, in horses, to give them a 
weekly rest ! ' 

In the effect of continuous labour on the physical 
condition of man, the existence of the same law is 
clearly observable. The frame of the labourer who 
is without his sabbath of rest, either breaks down 



TESTIMONY OF NATURE TO THE SABBATH. 9 



througli the pressure of Ms unceasing toil, or sinks 
into premature decay ; whilst the man of study, who 
applies closely every day of the week in continuance, 
discovers, sooner or later, by painful experience, that 
his laborious diligence has been but improvident 
draughts upon the resources of nature. Of this latter 
effect of continuous efforts of mind, we have nume- 
rous and obvious examples among the learned profes- 
sions. *The premature death of medical men from 
continued exertion, especially in warm climates and 
in active service, has been frequently observed ; and 
among the more active of the Clergy, who have 
neglected the substitution of another day of rest in 
compensation for the Sabbath, many have been seen 
to be destroyed by their duties on that day.' And it 
has been shown by some of the most eminent among 
Christian physicians, that, in a medical sense, as well 
as in a religious, the Sabbath, as a day of rest, is a 
most beneficial institution. It is held " as a day of 
compensation for the inadequate restorative power of 
the body under continued labour and excitement." 
And its rest, physiologically considered, has a 
"sustaining, repairing, and healing power."* The 
experimental result of a conscientious observance of 
this sacred institution on our bodily frame, therefore, 
witnesses, to the present day, to the obvious fitness of 
the declaration of our Lord, that "the Sabbath was 

* This observation, -with some other quotations in this section, is 
derived from the very intelligent evidence of Dr. Farre, before the 
Select Committee of the House of Commons on the observajice of the 
Lord's Day. 

b2 



10 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

made for man.'' It further attests, that the Sabbath 
is not an arbitrary institution, nor a mere judicial 
regulation, nor a ceremonial observance designed for 
the Jews only, but an "appointment necessary to 
man.'' 

Thus, it appears, that Nature, in its physical con- 
stitution, bears a special and multifarious testimony 
to the perpetuity of obligation, and beneficence of 
character, of the divine injunction, — " Six days thou 
shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt 
rest ; that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the 
son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be re- 
freshed." 

Section III. — TJie Testimony to the Law of the 
Sahhath, from its Influence on the Moral Condition 
of Man. 

In this have we another description of perpetually 
recurring testimony to the law of the Sabbath. For 
both observation and experience yield the most 
marked indications of the existence of an inseparable 
relation betwixt the due regard of the Sabbath, and 
the moral condition of mankind. Hence are there 
but few particulars in the practice of a Christian, 
which more strikingly indicate the personal acquire- 
ment of real religion than the habitual conscientious 
observance of the Sabbath. And as with individuals, 
so with nations, the manner in which this divinely 
appointed day is kept, is found to afford a fair com- 



Moral influence of the sabbath. 



11 



parative estimate of national piety. That such, 
indeed, must have been the case, from the earliest 
ages of the world, we may infer from this declaration 
of J ehovah himself — " Hallow my Sabbaths, and they 
shall be a sign between me and you, that you may 
know that I am the Lord your God." If this, then, 
was an appointed sign in ancient times, betwixt Israel 
and Jehovah, the analogy of our mutual faith would 
itself indicate, that the Lord^s day with us, must con- 
tinue to be also a sign between the Gentile believer 
and his God — between the Christian and his Saviour.* 
And the closest observation and experience elicit the 
general proposition, — that the sanctifying of the Sab- 
bath (not the mere formal or ceremonial observance) 
may, in any country, or age of the world, be regarded 
as a spiritual barometer, exhibiting, by its fluctua- 
tions, and comparative height, the state of the moral 
atmosphere wherever it is observed. 

Such, indeed, is the natural consequence of the 
Divine appointment of the Sabbath; for all the ap- 
pointments of a God infinitely wise and good, must 
have a relation and tendency to good. Being originally 
designed, not only to commemorate a rest, but to be 
a sanctified rest from labour in order to personal and 
spiritual edification; the conscientious observance of 
it necessarily becomes a sign — a sign distinguishing 

* As the discussion of the question of the Sabbath on the usual 
grounds, falls not within the intention of this publication, it is not 
requisite to go into the reason for the change of the day from the 
seventh to the first. It is sufficient for our object, and, I ap2:)rehend for 
all the purposes for which the Sabbath was designed, that one-seventh 
portion of our time be set apart for rest and spiritual improvement. 



12 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

"between him that serveth God, and him that serveth 
him not." 

In truth, the present welfare and eternal happiness 
of man are most intimately and inseparably involevd 
in the right improvement of God's holy day. Physic- 
ally speaking, its observance, as we have shown, is 
necessary to the weal of the body ; but religiously 
considered, it is still more essential to the welfare of 
the soul. Were men, then, as much in earnest about 
their immortal spirits, as they are about the gratifi- 
cation or prosperity of their perishing bodies, how 
differently would that sacred day, expressly designed 
and wisely calculated for spiritual edification, be 
spent ! We should not then see the great mass of the 
world working with unwearied diligence from day- 
light till dusk for the perishing things of time, and 
stinting the labour for the soul, if they labour at all, 
to two or three meagre, listless hours of the Lord's 
day. We should not then find them strenuously 
contending for the abolition of the Sabbath, or 
denying its continued obligations, or questioning and 
rejecting its holy sanctions ! We should not then 
hear so many complainings respecting the restraints 
of the Sabbath, nor find the continued adoption, in 
spirit and action at least, of the language of the 
prophet — " When will the new moon be gone, that 
we may sell corn ? and the Sabbath, that we may set 
forth wheat?" We should not then see the sacred 
repose of the Sabbath converted into a rest of sloth 
and indolence ; nor the observance, which is a sign 



MORAL INFLUENCE OF THE SABBATH. 13 

between God and his people, bearing the sign of the 
Prince of this world; nor the momentous occupations 
of the Sabbath pursued with careless indifference j 
nor the time due unto the Lord, and claimed by him 
as his own, stolen from Him to be given to business 
and self; nor the sacred hours of His holy day 
prostituted to worldly indulgences or carnal enjoy- 
ments. No ! were mankind in earnest about their 
moral weal, and religious advancement, as essential 
requisites for future glory, they would account the 
Sabbath a peculiar blessing ; they would consider it 
as the day of their special happiness ; they would 
improve it with lively diligence in seeking for spiritual 
gifts and graces; they would be most careful to 
" remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy." 

Not only, however, doth the moral elevation of 
man hold an essential relation to a right improvement 
of the Sabbath; but his temporal happiness and wel- 
fare are found, in no small measure, to be involved 
in a due regard to this divine appointment, so as to 
call for its strictest and most godly observance. 

It is a popular objection to a strict keeping of the 
Sabbath, that it deprives the poor labourer, borne 
down by six days' severe toil, of his only opportunity 
for necessary recreation for the good of his health. 
But we have a twofold answer, derived from general 
experience, to this popular reasoning. The first is, 
the simple fact, that the pious poor, who conscien- 
tiously and strictly regard the Sabbath, are not less 
healthy or less happy, but as a body much more so, 



14 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 



than those who take the free and unrestricted use of 
Sabbath day recreation. And the next answer is the 
notorious truth, that the Sabbath recreations of the 
labouring classes are, in the great majority of instances, 
at once subversive of happiness, and prejudicial to 
health. For their prevalent infringement of the 
sanctity of the Sabbath is found by experience to 
generate more intemperance, sensuality, and lewdness, 
than mere recreative indulgence on any other equal 
portion of the week.* And in E-oman Catholic 
countries where the Sabbath, as to its greater portion, 
is professedly given up to purposes of recreation, it is 
found to be the day which largely exceeds all the 
rest in the practice of immorality and vice, instead of 
being improved, as it is designed, for '^the promotion 
of true religion and virtue." And if we might take 
Paris, when Catholicism was most predominant, as 
an example, the result of actual investigation was 
this — that there was decidedly more gambling on the 
Lord's day than on any other day of the seven, with 
good grounds for believing, that there was more 
dissipation, and sensuality, and sinful indulgence, 
on that fearfully profaned day, than in all the remain- 
der of the week together ! 

The testimony to the law of the Sabbath, from its 
influence on the moral condition of men, as elicited 
in the evidence given before the " Select Committee 
of the House of Commons on the observance of the 

* The evidence before the Select Committee of the House of Com- 
mons, on the due observance of the Lord's day — especially that in 
reference to steam-boats and tea-gardens— aflfords many corroborations 
of these statements. 



MORAL INFLUENCE OF THE SABBATH. 15 

Lord's day/' is so decisive in its cliaracter, that I 
conceive it advantageous to give here a few extracts 
in support of the foregoing observations. 

Mr. Wontner, the keeper of Newgate, stated, that 
" he had heard many prisoners express their regret 
that their crimes had originated with a breach of the 
Sabbath;" that *^he had known them caution their 
relatives and friends to observe the Sabbath, tracing 
their own crimes to their non-observance or breach 
of the Sabbath ; " and that " nine-tenths of the 
prisoners coming under his care did not value the 
Sabbath, or were not in the habit of attending a 
place of worship." 

Mr. Benjamin Baker, who had been in the habit 
of visiting the prisoners in Newgate for the previous 
twenty years, stated that " he had almost universally 
found the prisoners who became impressed with a 
sense of their unhappy condition, lamenting their 
neglect of the duties of the Sabbath;" that they 
almost universally considered Sabbath-breaking as 
the leading cause of their transgressions ; and " that 
the deviation from the Sabbath led them on, step by 
step, into that degree of crime which had brought 
them" to their lamentable condition. Mr. Baker 
had attended the execution of not less that 350 
criminals, "and nine out of ten," said he, "have 
dated the principal part of their departure from God 
to the neglect of the Sabbath ; that," he added, "has 
certainly been the case ! " 

The Eev. David Ruell, Chaplain of the New 



16 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

Prison, Clerkenwell, stated, that 100,000 prisoners, 
at the lowest calculation, had passed under his care ; 
^^that he had had many opportunities of learning 
from the prisoners themselves the courses which had 
led them into crime, and generally found that the 
neglect or gross violation of the Sabbath was one;" 
that " he had in many cases heard prisoners regret 
that they had been so regardless of the Lord's day;" 
and, in reference to the method of Sabbath violation 
he stated his impression that "by far the greater 
number desecrate the sacred day from taking their 
own pleasure.^' As to the inseparableness of crime 
and Sabbath-breaking, he said, I do not recollect a 
single case of capital offence where the party has not 
been a Sabbath-breaker, and in many cases they have 
assured me that Sabbath-breaking was the first step 
in the course of crime!" To the question, "Have 
confessions to that effect been frequent?" he an- 
swered, — " Frequently have they acknowledged it, 
and in some cases they have requested me to warn 
others against it from their example. Indeed I may 
say in reference to prisoners of all classes, that in 
nineteen cases out of twenty, they are persons who 
have not only neglected the Sabbath, but all other 
ordinances of religion. So powerfully is my mind im- 
pressed with the subject, that I cannot forbear adding 
my conviction that Sabbath-breaking is not only a 
great national evil, but a fruitful source of immorality 
among all classes, and pre-eminently of profligacy 
and crime among the lower orders." 



CUESE OX SABBATH DESECRATION. 



17 



Section IT. — The Testimony of Providence as to a 
Curse on Sabbath Desecration. 

Ix manifold respects the course of an unerring 
Providence bears continual witness to the truths^ 
that there is a blessing on conscientious Sabbath 
obseryance, a curse on its yiolation. Of this latter 
truth the voluntary account of thousands of suffering 
transgressors, and the dying words of many criminals, 
afford, as we have seen, striking and convincing evi- 
dence. Xumbers of miserable creatures who have 
paid the forfeiture of their lives for their manifold 
crimes, have been constrained to confess, that the 
vicious practices, which brought them to ruin and to 
the gallows, commenced, and were fostered, by their 
neglect or abuse of the Sabbath. Nor are we with- 
out manifold warnings of other kinds, crying to us as 
a voice from Heaven, — " "What evil thing is this that 
ye do, and profane the Sabbath day ?" — "Eemember 
the Sabbath day to keep it holy;" whilst the warn- 
ings, we may perceive, seem to realize the fulfilment 
of the solemn language of the Psalmist, where he 
says — It is time for Thee, Lord, to work : for they 
have made void thy law." The curse, indeed, on 
the violation of the Sabbath, may be discovered in all 
its modes. If we calculate the number of lives which 
have been lost among persons seeking their pleasure 
on the Lord's day — among those who have been lost 
in sailing-boats, or have been maimed or killed in 
coaches and other conveyances — among those who have 



18 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

been drowned whilst skating, or otherwise amusing 
themselves on the ice, — a proportion, I believe, 
much greater than arithmetically due to a single day, 
will be found to have met their death whilst pursuing 
their unhallowed pleasures on the Sabbath. 

A very remarkable testimony was given under the 
Levitical dispensation, of Providential judgment, in 
the seventy years captivity of the J ews, for the viola- 
tion of the Sabbath. What portion of guilt in this 
matter related to the desecration of the hebdomadal 
Sabbath we are not informed; but the chastisement 
referred to is connected, in the Scriptures, with the 
neglect of the septennial repose of the ground. It had 
been commanded the Israelites as a nation, to give 
the seventh year of their land a Sabbath of rest unto 
the Lord;" but, in case they should transgress, and 
walk contrary to their God, it was judicially declared 
that they should be scattered among the heathen for 
their chastisement; and " then," it was added, "shall 
the land enjoy her Sabbaths as long as it lieth desolate 
and ye be in your enemies' land ; even then shall the 
land rest, and enjoy her Sabbaths. As long as it lieth 
desolate it shall rest, because it did not rest in your 
Sabbaths, when ye dwelt upon it." 

Notwithstanding this special warning, which had 
been put upon record by Moses in the book of Levi- 
ticus [chap. xxvi. 34-35], Israel did defraud the 
land of its Sabbaths, and the poor of its spontaneous 
produce. Then was the sore judgment fulfilled to 
very letter ; for the Jews were carried away captive 



CURSE ON SABBATH DESECRATION. 19 

into Babylon, because of their transgressions, until 
tbe land," as it is strikingly written, "had enjoyed 
her Sabbaths; for as long as she lay desolate she 
kept Sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years." 
[II Chronicles xxxvi. 21]. And this, probably, was 
the very amount of time of which her fields had 
been defrauded of their portion of rest. 

If such, then, was the visitation of the Jews for 
their violation of a judicial precept of the Sabbatical 
Institution ; it would be prudent in those who are in 
the habit of oiFending ^ after the similitude of their 
transgression,' through the neglect of the permanently 
authoritative weekly Sabbath, to consider, whether 
they likewise, in their temporal weal, will not be 
made to pay the penalty? Would to God that the 
great multitude of persons of all grades and profes- 
sions, who violate, for purposes of emolument or 
pleasure, the sanctity of the Lord's day, — the Chris- 
tian's Sabbath — would carefully weigh the conse- 
quences, and they would probably find that their 
expected gains were in reality loss, and their sup- 
posed enjoyments unreal ; whilst for these they brave 
the wrath of God and bring down a curse on their 
pleasures and on the work of their hands! For 
however little the great mass of the world may think 
of the sin of violating the Sabbath, and however 
venial Sunday trading or pleasuring may be con- 
sidered among men, there is good reason for believing 
that our eternal happiness is as much perilled by the 
wilful, habitual desecration of the Sabbath, as by the 



20 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

transgression of some of the commands of highest 
acknowledged importance in the decalogue. And if, 
as some imagine, the Sabbath may be neglected or 
broken without the charge, before God, of sin, then 
could we bring forward the strongest reasons for the 
repugnant and dangerous conclusion, that idolatry 
and blasphemy, theft, and adultery — the laws against 
which have no higher authority — may be committed 
without sin ! 

Section V. — The Testimony of Providence as to 
a Blessing on the conscientious Observance of the 
Sabbath. 

Having touched upon the experimental manifest 
tations of evil to man, both physically and morally, 
as well as in regard to his temporal happiness and 
prosperity, from Sabbath desecration; we now pro- 
ceed more particularly to remark upon the special 
acknowledgments of Providence, in accordance with 
the promises of Scripture, of a blessing on the reve- 
rential and scriptural observance of the sacred day of 
the Lord. For thus the word of Jehovah declares, — 
"Blessed is the man that keepeth the Sabbath from 
polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any 
evil." And thus also is it graciously promised, in 
the LViiith of Isaiah, — " If thou turn away thy foot 
from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my 
holy day ; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy 
of the Lord, honourable ; and shalt honour him, not 



BLESSING ON SABBATH OBSERVANCE. 21 

doing thine own waySy nor finding thine own pleasure, 
nor speaking thine own words; then shalt thou delight 
thyself in the Lord ; and I will cause thee to ride 
upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with 
the heritage of Jacob thy father; for the mouth of 
the Lord hath spoken it." 

Such then are the assured blessings attached to a 
conscientious and sanctified observance of the Sab- 
bath, — delight in the Lord, — temporal dignity or 
respect, — and temporal prosperity or sufficiency of 
sustenance; and, behold, how strong the assurance 
on which these blessings rest, — "the mouth of the 
Lord hath spoken it ! " 

And that such blessings, either wholly or in part, 
in a greater or less degree, are actually bestowed 
upon those who keep the Sabbath from polluting it, 
and remember it to keep it holy, — the experience of 
all good men, who have been enabled to make the 
experiment, abundantly proves. Such, for example, 
was the oft-recited experience of the celebrated Lord 
Chief Justice Hale, who has publicly testified the 
singular comfort and advantage which he derived 
from the due observance of the Sabbath. " I have 
found," says he, " by a strict and diligent observation, 
that a due attention to the duty of this day, hath ever 
had joined to it a blessing upon the rest of my time ; 
and the week that hath been so begun, hath been 
blessed and prospered to me; and, on the other side, 
when I have been negligent of the duties of this day, 
the rest of the week hath been unsuccessful and un- 



22 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC EEGIONS. 

happy to my secular employments ; so that I could 
easily make an estimate of my successes in my own 
secular employments of the week following, by the 
manner of my passing of this day : and this I do not 
write lightly or inconsiderately, but upon a long and 
sound observation and experience."* 

Now if such an effect was found to be produced, 
on worldly comfort and prosperity, by the mere 
variations of manner and strictness in the Sabbath 
day observances of a Christian, how much greater 
must be the influence where the Sabbath is entirely 
disregarded or openly desecrated? If there was a 
constant observable difference in the worldly pros- 
perity of a religious man, according as the duties of 
the Sabbath were piously or carelessly performed, 
how much greater a difference, in all reasonable 
analogy, must there be, between the habitual breaking 
of the Sabbath or keeping it holy. But the proof of 
this will always be more convincing to the person 
making trial of the measure, than it can possibly be 
made unto others. For, as to the experimental proof, 
my firm persuasion is, that any one who from proper 
motives gives up his usual Sabbath-day pleasuring 
or trading, and sacrifices his supposed Sabbath-day 
enjoyments and gains, will find by his own experience 
the sign which God hath appointed and promised — 
a blessing so manifest, either in body or soul, that his 
own convictions will constrain him to confess, that 
the Lord God omnipotent reigneth! He will ex- 

* Hale's " Contemplations, Moral and Divine," p. 260. 



BLESSING ON SABBATH OBSERVANCE. 



perience an internal evidence of the obligation of 
the commands of God, and of the acknowledgment 
given to him that conscientiously follows them as his 
rule of life, which shall speak more powerfully to his 
heart on the benefit and authority of the religion of 
the Bible, than the most unanswerable verbal argu- 
ments. And this, perhaps, may be one description 
of the manifestation attendant on obedience and love, 
spoken of by our Saviour when he said — " He that 
hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is 
that loveth me : and he that loveth me shall be loved 
of my Father, and I wiU love him, and will manifest 
myself to himJ'' 

The blessing from God on those who sanctify the 
Sabbath, and his curse against others who openly de- 
secrate it, are often made so obvious, even to worldly 
or irreligious men, that they are constrained to observe 
and avow that the results are Providential. 

Speaking with an intelligent and observant Captain 
of a merchant vessel, on the subject of Sabbath abuses 
among seamen, he made the following judicious 
remarks as the result of his own experience : — ^ His 
firm conviction,' he said, ^was this, that the work 
done on the Lord^s day never prospered. He had 
seen vessels in the "West Indies engaged in taking in 
their cargoes on Sundays, the same as on other days, 
the owners paying the present penalty of double 
wages to the labourers; he had noticed many ship's 
companies habitually employed in various duties 



24 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

expressly arranged for their occupation on that sacred 
day; he had witnessed ships in the timber trade 
taking in their cargoes, and making the Sunday a 
time of common labour, with a view of hastening the 
voyage; but he never observed, and he had paid 
great attention to the result, that any of them were 
the gainers by the efforts they made. On the other 
hand, he had observed different cases, (though he 
could not, in Christian charity, ascribe them to the 
Divine judgment,) in which accidents and stranding 
had befallen several of the vessels in which the un- 
hallowed efforts had been made for hastening their 
voyage, and thus entirely defeated the contemplated 
object.' Let the sea-faring reader calmly consider, 
whether these important deductions of an intelligent 
observer may not be founded in truth? Let him 
reflect, since they are in accordance with the Word 
of God, whether they are not more than probabilities, 
3"ea, important certainties ? 

An extensive proprietor of steam-vessels, a man of 
sound understanding and acute observation, expressed, 
in my hearing, very similar sentiments as the result 
of his experience. ^ The Company,' he said, ' with 
which he was associated, (being one of the most 
extensive and best regulated Companies in the king- 
dom,) did no voluntary business whatever on the 
Sunday; they sailed none of their vessels on that 
day, except when any happened to be out of course, 
and then, being obliged to despatch a steamer for 
preserving the periods of sailing, no profit was made 



BLESSING ON SABBATH OBSERVANCE. 25 

of the passage, for the vessel was sent away empty.' 
The result of experience in this laudable practice 
was most satisfactory ; ' they found no particular in- 
convenience, and they were not aware of any loss 
being sustained by the observance of the Sabbath !' 

These examples of this kind of evidence, out of a 
great body of corresponding statements, may suffice ; 
for the quantity of corroborative experience, among 
those whose endeavour it is to '^E-emember the 
Sabbath day to keep it holy," is, in reality, inex- 
haustible. 



c 



26 



Chapter II. 

SPECIAL TESTIMONIES OF PROVIDENCE, ON TEMPORAL 
PROSPERITY, TO SABBATH OBSERVANCES IN 
THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 



Section I. — Prelimmary Observations. 



That " the works of tlie Lord/' as well in Provi- 
dence as in Creation, " are great/^ as " sought out of 
all them that have pleasure therein," is a general 
scriptural truth. It is a truth, however, which 
obtains more peculiar manifestations with those who 
"^go down to the sea in ships, that do business in 
great waters for these see, most strikingly, the 
works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep.^' 
If, then, the observableness of the actings of a par- 
ticular Providence — as exhibited in the foregoing 
chapter, in. the general testimonies in regard to the 
Sabbath, — have yielded any measure of conviction 
to the mind of the serious and candid enquirer ; a 
still more powerful impression might reasonably be 
expected from particular manifestations of similar 
providences observed by those engaged in the adven- 
tures of a sea-faring life. The opportunity of seeing 



PROVIDENTIAL TESTIMONIES. 27 

" the finger of God " under these very circumstances, 
and of witnessing such striking testimonies of Provi- 
dence to the Sabbath as carried conviction to the 
minds of hundreds of impartial observers, having 
been my personal and repeated privilege, — I am 
induced to put some of the more remarkable cases 
on record, with the prayerful hope, that, under the 
Divine blessing, the edifjdng impression which was 
produced on those around me, my associates in ad- 
venture, may be extended likewise to others. 

The cases to which I allude occurred in the Green- 
land whale-fishery, — a service peculiarly calculated, 
from its difficulty, uncertainty, and hazardous nature, 
to yield perpetual evidences of Providential inter- 
ferences. For the observation of such interferences, 
I had ample opportunities, having, for twenty-one 
years, been personally engaged in this adventurous 
occupation, in twelve of which I held the chief com- 
mand. It was, however, in the last four voyages, 
wherein my personal interest in the fishing, from 
holding a considerable share in the concern, was the 
greatest, that the Providential testimonies to Sabbath 
observance were the most striking ; and in these latter 
years the incidents here related chiefly occurred. 
During this period, the pecuniary interest to myself 
alone, in the capture of a large whale, was, not 
unfrequently, near £ 300, whilst a single day's suc- 
cessful fishing might afibrd a personal advantage, as 
in one instance or more it did, of upwards of £ 800. 
Consequently every motive of self-interest, with 



28 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

myself, was in favour of unceasing exertions, during 
the whole seven days of the week, for promoting the 
success of our undertaking. The practice, moreover, 
among the northern whalers, at that time, was almost 
universal, — with the exception of one revered indi- 
vidual now no more, and occasionally, perhaps, of 
another honourable example of forbearance, — to 
pursue the fishery equally on the Lord's day, as at 
any other time, whenever whales were astir. Works 
connected with the fishery, indeed, but considered of 
less importance, were, for the most part, suspended, 
in honour of the Sabbath ; but the capture of whales, 
if opportunity offered, was considered as such a 
kind of necessity, as to justify a departure from the 
ordinary rest of the day. For it was argued, and 
that with reason, that the whales which were seen on 
the Sabbath might not remain till another day ; and, 
therefore, it was inferred, though by no means with 
the same strictness of truth, that it was a necessary 
duty to pursue the objects of the fishery whenever 
whales were within reach. 

Through the goodness of God, however, I felt the 
line of duty, personally, to be otherwise. The strict 
command concerning the Sabbath, rendered, in my 
apprehension, the duty imperative, — to refrain from 
labouring in a worldly calling, for worldly advantage^ 
on that holy day ; and this, for several of the latter 
voyages in which I was engaged, became our un- 
do viating rule of conduct. And here it is but justice 
to those who were then united with me in the adven- 



PROVIDENTIAL TESTIMONIES. 



29 



ture, — Messrs. Hurry and Gibson, of Liverpool, — to 
mention, that they, with other partners in the concern, 
most fully accorded, and on the same principle of 
reverence to the Divine command as myself, in the 
practice I had adopted, — having given, indeed, to 
another of their Captains, engaged in the same pur- 
suit, very strict directions to sanctify the Sabbath as 
a day of holy rest. And not these gentlemen only, 
but others with whom I was previously engaged- 
Messrs. Fishburn and Brodrick, who were the sole 
owners of the ship Esk, which I commanded out of 
the port of Whitby, most cheerfully acceded to the 
plan, leaving me fully at liberty to deviate from the 
usual practice in order to sanctify the Lord's day. 

Before proceeding to state the result of this prac- 
tice, I would solicit the kind indulgence of the reader 
for speaking so much of myself. The necessity, 
indeed, of doing this, if I became the narrator of 
circumstances arising out of my own conduct, made 
me for some time hesitate as to the propriety of pub- 
lishing these personal experiences of the testimonies 
of Providence to Sabbath observances. But as these 
testimonies, which could not else be known, might 
serve as encouragements to others to refrain from 
Sabbath desecration, when urged to it by the appa- 
rent necessities of important worldly interests, the 
hope of usefulness seemed to justify their being thus 
recorded. 

Another circumstance connected with these personal 
records, calling perhaps for still more indulgence, is 



30 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

the apparent ostentation of putting forth the details 
of cases of peculiar self-denial, or of marked reverence 
for the Lord^s day, beyond the general practice of 
those engaged in the same occupation. But here 
would I most solemnly disclaim any title to, or 
assumption of, personal praise. On the contrary, 
rather, from a heartfelt consciousness of prevailing 
imperfection, would I adopt the words of our Lord 
and say, — " we are unprofitable servants : we have 
done that which was our duty to do." And deeply 
humbled with a sense of personal short-comings in 
other things, and even in the practice of keeping the 
heart with all diligence, on the holy Sabbath, — I feel 
bound thus publicly to give the entire praise to God, 
in whatever, by His grace, I may have been enabled 
to do or to suffer, to bear or to forbear, in respect to 
the authority of His holy law. 

One other precautionary observation may here be 
called for, as a guard against the imputation of super- 
stition or enthusiasm, with which some of these in- 
cidents may possibly be charged, by those who are 
not in the habit of observing the passing indications 
of " the finger of God." Our defence, as to this, 
is simple. If it be superstition to refer any special 
success vouchsafed to the work of our hands to the 
blessing of God, or if it be enthusiasm to expect such 
a blessing when in that very work we have humbly 
endeavoured, in dependence on Christ strengthening 
us, to fulfil the conditions to which a blessing is 
promised, — then must our every- day prayers, in 



PROVIDENTIAL TESTIMONIES. 



31 



which we ask for the divine help and furtherance, 
be only the ceremonials of superstition, and belief 
in the faithfulness of God to His promisesj a mere 
enthusiasm. If, moreover^ to hope for deliverance 
from peril, in answer to prayer, or for guidance in 
danger and difficulty, on asking it of God, were 
really enthusiasm, — then must the reception of the 
Scriptures, which both invite and admonish us to do 
so, with the belief in a particular providence so per- 
petually taught therein, become a similar weakness, 
and the wonder-working power of faith a vain shadow ! 
But, as the word of truth is true, there is a special 
providence disposing, guiding, and controlling the 
affairs of this lower world; for "the Lord reigneth 
"He is a great King over all the earth." And that 
this government is not merely general, but particular, 
and special, we find, among a variety of evidence, 
these statements, — that " man's goings are of the 
Lord;" that "the steps of a good man are ordered 
by the Lord ;" yea, that whilst " a man's heart de- 
viseth his way, the Lord directeth his steps." And 
such is the guidance and blessing on " every one 
that feareth the Lord, and walketh in his ways,'^ that 
he has this assurance in Scripture, — " thou shalt eat 
the labour of thine hands ; happy shalt thou be, and 
it shall be well with thee." 

Doubtless, the grand endowments, with which it 
pleases God to reward the poor and unworthy endea- 
vours of his servants to honour Him and keep his 
laws, are spiritual blessings ; and these, did we fully 



S2 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

realise their unspeakable superiority over the mere 
transient enjoyments of time and sense, would be the 
objects of our special anxiety and desire ; — neverthe- 
less, it doth please the Almighty Giver of all good 
things to yield over and above, and in no mean 
degree, real and manifold temporal blessings to those 
who, on Gospel principles, and in reliance only on 
the merits and righteousness of Christ for the accept- 
ance, both of themselves and their poor performances, 
earnestly strive to walk " in all His ordinances and 
commands blameless." Hence, though the expecta- 
tion of temporal benefits in recompense of obedience, 
were, as the motive to obedience, unworthy of the 
generous spirit of Christianity; yet is the doctrine 
unequivocally stated in the Scriptures, that, in keep- 
ing of the commandments of the Lord, there is, in 
every respect, " great reward ; " and that " Godliness 
is profitable unto all things, having promise of the 
life that now is, and of that which is to come.^' 

That such a result was actually realized in my 
own humble endeavours to honour the Sabbath, and 
keep it holy, let facts testify. 

Section II. — Indications of a Providential Blessing , 
in connection with Sahhath forhearance, in the 
Fishery of 1820. 

Though, for several of the latter voyages which I 
undertook to the Arctic Seas, it had been our general 
rule and endeavour to refrain from fishing on the 



PROVIDENTIAL TESTIMONIES. 



33 



Sabbath ; it was not until the year 1820, that I was 
enabled, loideviatmgly , to carry the principle into 
effect. But in the voyage of that year, the principle 
of the sanctity of the Sabbath was not violated, as far 
as I am aware, by any endeavour whatever to pursue 
the fishery on that sacred day. Several of the har- 
pooners — whose interest in the success of the voyage 
was such, that even a single large whale, being cap- 
tured, yielded to them an advantage of from £6 to 
£8 each — were, in the early part of the voyage, 
very much dissatisfied with the rule. They con- 
sidered it a great hardship that, whilst other ships 
took advantage of the seven days of the week, for the 
furtherance of their fishing, they should be restricted 
to six. And as the obtaining of a full cargo was 
then the lot only of a very few, they reasoned, " that 
our chance of a prosperous voyage was but as six to 
seven, when compared with that of our competitors 
in the fishery .^^ The chief officer, however, who, 
in the outset, felt the restriction very strongly, was 
frequently known to remark, ' that if we, under such 
disadvantages, should make a successful voyage, he 
should then believe there indeed was something like 
a blessing on the observance of the Sabbath.' 

The early and middle part of the fishery, in the 
voyage referred to, having proved very unproductive, 
our principles, towards the conclusion of the season, 
were put to a severe test, when, for three successive 
Sundays, a considerable number of fine whales most 
invitingly appeared around us. But, notwithstanding 



34 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

the great temptation to " hungry fishermen," we were 
enabled to persevere in our system of forbearance, 
and with such a result, that all on board, I believe, 
considered it as providential. 

On the first occasion, indeed, which happened 
during the night, a boat, — in neglect or forgetfulness 
of the general order, — had been sent oflf in pursuit ; 
but it was immediately recalled when I arose, in 
regard to the Lord^s day, and no other boat was after- 
wards permitted to be lowered, though an unusual 
number of fish, from time to time, were in view. 
The three or four following days were very unfavour- 
able for our object, being foggy, and, for the most 
part, calm ; but on the Wednesday, whilst the fog 
was yet exceedingly dense, a fine fish was struck in 
a crowded " patch of ice," and though its pursuers 
could have no other guidance in the chase, but their 
mutual shouts, and the sound of the "blowing" of 
the distressed animal, yet the result, notwithstanding 
the difi[iculties in the way, was unexpectedly success- 
ful, and the prize secured. 

The next Lord's day, though fish were astir, was 
a day of sanctified and happy repose. Early in the 
week, on the appearance of several whales, our efforts 
— put forth with augmented power, no doubt, in 
consequence of the restraints of the Sabbath, and 
furthered, I firmly believe, by Him who hath pro- 
mised his blessing to them who " call the Sabbath a 
delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable,'^ — were, 
under various anxious hazards, highly successful. 



PROVIDENTIAL TESTIMONIES. So 

Two large whales were taken on the Tuesday, and 
another on the Friday, yielding, altogether, a produce 
of the value of about £ 1600. 

Of the fishing of Tuesday — accomplished during a 
gale of wind, in thick weather, and among numerous 
large masses of very dangerous ice — the following 
particulars, supplied in some minor respects from a 
recollection of the circumstances, are derived chiefly 
from my Journal of the day. After a brief narrative 
of the proceedings in killing the two whales, and the 
difficulties and anxieties attendant on getting them 
secured to the ship, the Journal, in substance, thus 
proceeds : — Both the fish being secured, or at least 
taken in tow by stout hawsers from the ship, three of 
our boats were despatched to a large floe," where 
one of the whales had been harpooned, in order to 
recover the lines which, to an unusual and extraordi- 
nary extent had been run out, — altogether, about 
5760 yards in length, — and where these valuable 
lines, hanging only by a hummock of ice, had been, 
for the time, abandoned. Meanwhile, as the most 
feasible proceeding, the ship was allowed to drift to 
leeward, with the intention, if practicable, to moor to 
the lee side of the floe to which the lines were 
attached, that the boats might have some guidance, 
should the dense fog continue, for their return. But 
the ice was so crowded, and the gale so strong, that, 
with the encumbrance of two " heavy fish," the ship 
became almost unmanageable. ^Vhile thus ham- 
pered we fell in with a small floe under our lee — a 



36 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

sheet of heavy flat ice perhaps a quarter of a mile in 
diameter — from the danger presented by which, we 
had a narrow escape, having, with every exertion in 
the management of the sails, and the slacking away 
of the hawsers attached to the whales, only cleared 
the extreme point by about half the breadth of the 
ship. Collision, here, must have been attended with 
great risk of formidable damage to the ship. 

My anxiety at this period was extreme. If, on 
the one hand, we made fast to any loose or detached 
piece of ice, we should probably be driven away to a 
great distance from the boats, so as to endanger the 
safety of their crews ; yet if, on the other hand, whilst 
contending to reach the large floe, we should unfor- 
tunately fall in with any compact body of ice to lee- 
ward, we might be so circumstanced, (not being able 
to see a hundred fathoms before us,) as to be under 
the necessity of casting the fish adrift for the preser- 
vation of the ship. And in such an event we should 
be at once in danger of losing our valuable prizes, 
and of perilling the lives of our absent people. It 
was a situation in which a reliance on a gracious 
and special Providence, was peculiarly consoling and 
advantageous. For whilst looking most anxiously 
and prayerfully to Almighty God for guidance in our 
manoeuvres, and for wisdom to act in so critical a 
situation, we were most providentially directed within 
view of a clear edge of the very floe we were desirous 
of reaching, so as to have the opportunity of selecting 
a suitable spot for placing our ice anchors. To efiect 



PROVIDENTIAL TESTIMONIES. 



37 



tliis, however, with a diminished crew, and during 
our rapid drift along the edge of the ice, was a matter 
of immense difficulty. And to discover a position 
sufficiently to leeward for fixing an anchor, where 
the extent of vision was so exceedingly contracted- — 
and to bring the sluggish and encumbered ship to 
the spot within the few moments which were allowed 
us for the various important preparations, — required, 
not only the utmost effiDrts of which man was capa- 
ble, but the special blessing of Almighty God to 
give his effi)rts success. Whilst the topsails were 
kept shivering, in order to diminish as much as pos- 
sible the leeward pressure of the wind, and to give 
time for what was essential to be done, — a convenient 
place for mooring was happily sought out, and an 
ice- anchor dexterously fijxed ; but, with every effiart 
and possible despatch, the ship had fallen too far to 
leeward to enable us, whilst so encumbered, to fetch 
the place of the anchor. Hence arose an urgent 
necessity for the ship's being instantly relieved from 
all encumbrances to her management. The order for 
this was given, and, in a moment, the encumbering 
whales were cast adrift (the ends of the hawsers being 
dropped into a boat with a single hand to secure 
them), and, then, by the prompt adjustment of the 
sails we fetched just within range of the desired spot, 
so that an active boat's crew, stimulated by the ur- 
gency of the case and the danger of failure, succeeded 
in carrying out the hawser, and in obtaining its 
attachment to the well fixed anchor in the ice. It 



S8 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

was an interval, however, of most anxious suspense 
whilst we watched the ship swinging by the intensely- 
stretched hawser, lest, whilst in the process of bring- 
ing her up, anything should give way: and it was 
an occasion for the exercise of every imaginable 
application of science in order to relieve the first 
effects of tension on the rope, by a smooth and judi- 
cious slacking at the bit-head, and then to check the 
violence of the swing of the ship's head, after passing 
beyond the line of '^head to wind," by the smart 
and appropriate bracing round of the yards. We 
happily succeeded in all we aimed at. And thus was 
the requisite blessing yielded to our efforts for a safe 
mooring to the floe. 

The sailor, who, out of the dangers of a lee shore 
and overpowering gale, has ever found unexpected 
refuge in the commodious harbour, will enter into 
our feelings, when, having thus escaped the imme- 
diate hazards of the ice and the gale, we rejoiced and 
^ were glad because we were quiet; the Lord having 
brought us,' as it were, Ho our desired haven.' And 
he who has been accustomed to regard the hand of 
God in his own deliverances, will not hesitate to 
unite with the writer in the concluding expression, 
standing in the narrative of this day's proceedings, — 
" Thanks be to God for all His mercies ! " 

The ship being well secured to this fine sheltering 
sheet of ice, by additional anchors, all the remaining 
boats were sent out to tow up the whales ; which, in 
due time, were restored to their former attachments. 



PROVIDENTIAL TESTIMONIES. 



39 



and one of them placed in proper order for the process 
of flensing. One source of anxiety, however, though 
that was greatly diminished, still remained, whilst 
the thick stormy weather continued — in the absence 
of so many of our hands. And many hours elapsed 
before our earnest gaze into the bewildering murkiness 
on our larboard or port hand, was cheered by the 
sight of one of the boat's approaching us ; but, in the 
course of the succeeding morning, the other boats, 
after which we had so anxiously looked, guided by 
the margin of the floe, to our exceeding joy, returned, 
and we not only had the pleasure of greeting our 
half-starved comrades all safe ; but of finding that all 
our lines and fishing-tackle had been recovered and 
secured. 

A day of sweet and welcome repose was the suc- 
ceeding Sabbath. The gale had for some time sub- 
sided ; and now a genial and cloudless atmosphere 
cheered the spirits, whilst all nature sparkling under 
the sun^s bright beams, seemed to participate in the 
gladness. Several whales sported around us ; but, 
as far as we were concerned, they were allowed a 
Sabbath-day's privilege to sport unmolested. 

The men were now accustomed to look for a 
blessing on Sabbath observances. And within the 
succeeding week, even before we were in a comfort- 
able situation for receiving further accessions to our 
now considerable cargo, the blessing was realized. 
We were employed in "making-ofi"" — that is, pack- 
ing the recently acquired blubber in casks for its 



40 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

preservation, — 'when a fine stout whale rose close 
by the ship. As quickly as the lumbered state 
of the decks, and scattered disposition of the crew, 
would permit, a boat was dropped to pursue it. 
Being a thick fog at the time, the boat was in a few 
moments out of sight. But before we had arranged 
for the despatch of a companion for their assistance 
and security, the usual alarm of a successful pursuit, 
■—"a fall! a fall!"-— resounded through the calm 
atmosphere from the lips of our absent people. The 
noise of the lines in ^'the fast boat," as they were 
dragged out under the resistance of several turns 
round the stem, served as a guide to the assistance 
now yielded ; and one of the boats fortunately got up 
with fresh resources, just in time to save the lines, 
and to preserve the connection with the entangled 
whale. The distinctness with which sounds are 
transmitted through a calm atmosphere, across the 
unruffled surface of an interglacial sea, enabled the 
boats to pursue the chase by the resounding only of 
its own excited respirations, so that, in brief space, 
four additional harpoons were struck, and the huge 
animal soon yielded its life to the skilfully-plied lances 
of its pursuers. This was a most important acqui- 
sition to our cargo, inasmuch as it was calculated to 
fill up our remaining stowage, and to authorise us to 
quit the present scene of labour, which, however 
animating and interesting during a successful fishing, 
is generally found to be oppressively anxious in its 
progress, and, not unfrequently, perillous in its adven- 



PROVIDENTIAL TESTIMONIES. 



41 



tures. In token of tlie happy circumstance of the 
attainment of a complete cargo, or ' a full ship ' — an 
incident, at this period of the fishery of but rare 
experience, — the important prize was towed by the 
whole of the boats in a line, with flags flying, and 
constant animating cheers, till they arrived alongside. 

This proved a third and impressive instance of, 
what I may safely characterize as, unusual success, 
closely following upon special self-denial in remem- 
brance of the Sabbath day, and in humble endeavours 
to keep it holy. Nor was the result less remarkable 
when put in comparison with the fishing of the ships 
in sight around us, — amounting occasionally to be- 
tween twenty and thirty sail, — for scarcely was there 
an instance throughout this large fleet, though most 
of them, if not the whole, employed every day alike 
in the capture of whales, in which one-half of the 
like success resulted from the labour of the same 
interval of time. This remark, I trust, will not be 
ascribed to any feeling of personal vanity, but as the 
mere statement of a fact, — a fact necessary to the 
verification of the position proposed to be established 

I by these memorials of providential experiences. For 
in justice to others engaged in the same field of 
enterprise, freely do I admit, and with pleasure yield 
the testimony, that many of the Captains with whom 

I I happened to come into competition evinced a 
measure of laborious, skilful, and persevering zeal in 
their adventurous pursuits, not merely praiseworthy 

I in itself, but scarcely to be exceeded. And in further 



42 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

justification of my own motives, I feel it right to add, 
thatj however it pleased Almighty God to bless me, 
personally, in the work of my hands^ there were 
others whose active and able exertions were, in the 
general issue, crowned with corresponding success. 
All, therefore, which I am desirous of claiming, by 
the putting forth of these various incidents of per- 
sonal experience, is, that they might serve as specific 
testimonies of a providential blessing on the work of 
our hands, yielded to sincere endeavours, on Christian 
principles, to remember the Sabbath day, and keep 
it holy. And that our self-denial in the now cited 
cases yielded, at the time, such testimonies to the 
minds of most of those around me I have no hesita- 
tion of distinctly affirming. The chief mate, indeed, 
who, in the outset, as I have said, had been most free 
to express to his brother officers his dissent from the 
rule on which we acted, was, at the conclusion of this 
voyage, so fully convinced of the fallacy of his former 
reasonings, that he candidly acknowledged his error, 
and, never, on any future occasion that I had an 
opportunity of witnessing, either forgot the impres- 
sion, or retracted the opinion which he now avowed. 

Section III. — Capture of a Whale of uncommon 
size, after a peculiar exercise of Self-denial, in 
honour of the Sahhath, on the preceding day. 

The next voyage, which was not very successful 
either with ourselves or with the whalers in general. 



PROVIDENTIAL TESTIMONIES. 



43 



was yet pursued, throughout, without any open dese- 
cration of the Sabbath by either attempting to fish, or 
even pursuing the search after better fishing stations 
on that holy day. Very soon after our entrance into 
the fishing stations our principles were put to the 
trial. On Sunday, the 27th of May, (about S a.m.) 
a large fish made its appearance close by the ship, 
and remained sporting about for nearly three hours ; 
a circumstance, in the habits of the whale, of very 
rare occurrence. Captain Manby, who was my com- 
panion on this occasion, has given a record of the 
circumstance alluded to, in his " Journal of a Voyage 
to Greenland," an extract from which may appro- 
priately serve as an introduction to the present 
narrative. Early this morning (Sunday)," says the 
writer, "the officer of the watch reported to the 
Captain that a very large whale was lying on the 
surface of the water near the ship, and asked per- 
mission to lower a boat and attack it, but was refused. 
Two or three hours afterwards, on its rising again, 
the officer returned, making the same application, 
urged by the crew, who, [having risen from their 
beds, almost to a man, to look at the tempting object 
before them,] had actually carried one of the har- 
pooners by force into the boat, and were preparing 
to lower it down; but the same denial was not 
only peremptorily made, but an order issued that 
the fullest reverence to the day must be observed. 
Thus/' adds the intelligent author, ''did the Sabbath 
bring with it the charms of peace." The trial of our 



44 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

forbearance, however, was again exercised by observ- 
ing a ship at a little distance engaged in flensing a 
whale which had just been captured; and likewise by 
the appearance of another whale temptingly near us 
in the afternoon. But, by the help of God, we were 
enabled still to resist the accumulated incitements to 
violate the sanctity of the Sabbath, and to continue 
our usual devotional exercises throughout the greater 
part of the day. 

The weather, which during the Sunday had been 
clear and serene, and particularly favourable for the 
prosecution of the fishery, changed during the night, 
and in the morning Avas dark, windy, and cheerless. 
Though I myself had no apprehension whatever that 
our self-denial during the Sunday would be any even- 
tual disadvantage, even in a worldly point of view, I 
was particularly anxious that my crew, whose ardour 
had been so tryingly repressed, should have the 
comfort and benefit of the same conviction. As far, 
therefore, as any efforts of my own could contribute 
to this end, I felt desirous of exerting every diligence, 
and with this view, immediately after breakfast, I 
went to the mast-head prepared for " a long spell." 
But the aspect of the sea around was discouraging. 
No whale had been seen during the night, and for 
some hours my own observation was exerted in vain. 
The ship at this time was surrounded by broad sheets 
of ice, with a large and rather compact body of smaller 
pieces, called "a pack," lying to the westward of us. 
Observing a part of this pack that was looser than the 



PROVIDENTIAL TESTIMONIES. 



45 



rest, I ran the ship into it, and pursued, among its 
devious windings, a very critical navigation, as far as 
I thought it useful or safe to penetrate. After trav- 
ersing, for a considerable time, the different channels 
presented by the surrounding ice, lingering still for 
the chance of finding some game in this thick and 
congenial cover, the search was at length given up 
as hopeless, and the helmsman was directed to steer 
out of the pack into the open water adjoining. Just, 
however, as I was turning myself slowly round in 
the "crow's nest," to take, what I designed to be, a 
last deliberate look abroad in every direction, previous 
to retiring from my long and tedious confinement at 
the mast head, — I caught a glimpse, as I cast my eye 
to the westward, of the tail of a whale in the act of 
descending; — for the whale, when playing about at 
its ease, and having sufficiently refreshed itself by 
respiration, generally terminates its stay at the surface 
by two or three "high backs," with the exhibition of 
its huge tail, out of the water, as it finally disappears. 

The distance of the whale now discovered, I con- 
sidered to be nearly two miles ; but as the glimpse I 
had obtained of it was only momentary, no accurate 
observation could be made as to its situation. A boat, 
however, was despatched at a venture — the officer in 
charge of it being one of our most hardy and adven- 
turous harpooners. With him, indeed, it seemed to 
be a matter of reckless indifference, in the pursuit of 
his object, whether the whale were quietly lying at 
the surface, as if courting the attack, or floundering 



46 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

with excited vehemence in its dying agonies, or leap- 
ing, ever and anon, in its mighty gambols, clear out 
of its native element, and threatening with certain 
destruction whatever it might encounter in its action. 
The direction, and the estimated distance of the chase, 
were hastily pointed out to this zealous harpooner, 
who, followed more leisurely by an assistant boat, set 
forward, as if rowing a race, so that the leading boat, 
thus manfully urged, seemed almost to fly on its way. 
According to usual probabilities, one would not have 
expected a favourable result; for ordinarily, whilst 
traversing a space so cons^iderable, the boats having 
little to guide the steersman, are liable to swerve from 
their proper direction, until, not unfrequently, they 
go greatly astray, but in this case there was no error — 
the steering neither deviated to the right nor the left; 
and fortunately, as the boat approached within about 
the third of a mile of the place where the whale had 
been seen, it re-appeared, when its pursuers were 
further animated to exertion by an increasing hope 
of success. And it so happened, contrary to the or- 
dinary habits of the animal, that it remained at the 
surface of the water for several minutes together, till 
the boat, without ever relaxing its speed from the 
moment it left the ship, was rowed "high and dry" 
upon the back of the chase ! With palpitating anxiety 
I had been watching through my glass the amazing 
efforts of the men, and their encouraging progress, 
till the blow was struck. Perceiving that it was 
effectual, I gave announcement of the joyful tidings 



PROVIDENTIAL TESTIMONIES. 



47 



by the usual exclamation of a fall — a fall!" Forth- 
with the delighted crew spring upon deck— some in 
their sleeping dress, with eyes half closed, and their 
bundle of clothes in their hand — and literally, as on 
such occasions they are wont, tumble in animated 
confusion into the boats, — the half-naked arraying 
themselves during the few moments of ^^lowering- 
away," or subsequently as opportunity may permit. 

Four other boats were thus added to the force 
already engaged in the adventure, and their exertions 
were singularly effectual. By the time we were 
enabled to reach the scene of action with the ship, 
several additional harpoons had been fastened in the 
body of the animal, and the lances so actively plied, 
that already it exhibited signs of exhaustion. It 
roused itself briefly for a final struggle — warning the 
boats to keep clear of the ponderous blows of the fins 
and tail of the dying monster — and then, rolling over 
on its side, ceased to live. Three cheers from the 
victors announced this interesting, and unexpectedly 
speedy result, — the capture having been completed 
within the short space of an hour from the striking 
of the first harpoon. And it proved a magnificent 
prize, being the largest animal of the species, as 
estimated by the length of the whalebone— the usual 
measure of comparison employed in the fishery — 
which, in an aggregate of several hundreds, I had 
ever seen captured. The extreme length of the 
animal, indeed, was not unusual, not being more 
than 52 feet ; but the fatness and bulk were remark- 



48 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

able. The longest lamina of whalebone measured 
within a quarter of an inch of 13 feet. The width 
of the tail was 21 feet. The produce in hlubher was 
above 30 tuns, together with about a ton and a 
quarter, in weight, of whalebone I 

Every one in the ship was struck with the size and 
appearance of this seasonable capture; and most of 
the crew, I believe, reflecting on the previous day's 
temptation and forbearance, drew the unprompted 
inference, that there was in reality a blessing attached 
to the observance of the Sabbath. 

Section IV. — RemarkaUe Indications of a Provi- 
dential Blessing in the Fishery of 1823. 

The voyage of 1822, the journal of which is before 
the public, did not fail in yielding its portion of 
evidence in favour of the proposition, — that a blessing, 
provide Qtially, is connected with the humble endea- 
vour to sanctify the Sabbath. One very satisfactory 
instance on that occasion occurred, which, together 
with another, or two, of a similar kind, in a previous 
voyage, might, with propriety, have been brought 
forward among these records of providential testi- 
monies; but, as there was nothing peculiar in the 
details and incidents of these cases, this mere notice 
of them may suffice. 

In the fishery of 1823, however, being my last 
adventure to the Arctic Seas, one of the most striking 
incidents of the class, under consideration, yet re- 
corded, occurred. 



PKOVIDENTIAL TESTIMONIES. 49 

About the middle of the month of May, we arrived 
on one of the usual fishing stations, in the 78th 
parallel of latitude, off the western coast of Spitz- 
bergen. On Saturday, the 17th, several whales were 
^ astir,' and all our boats, manned with eager fisher- 
men, were sent out in pursuit. One of the boats at 
length came within reach of its chase, and a harpoon 
was struck; but, after great and fruitless efforts, 
during seven or eight hours, to come at the wounded 
animal, it escaped us by the breaking of the instru- 
ment with which it had been entangled. Shortly 
afterwards, ere the sun had crossed the meridian 
below the Pole to usher in the sacred day of the 
Lord, we hoisted up our boats, and rested from our 
labour. 

In the morning, our principles of Sabbath forbear- 
ance were put to a severe test, by different incite- 
ments to pursue the great object of our voyage. 
"While a competitor in the adventure, close by us, 
and another at a distance, were employing their 
entire crews in the business of the fishery, several 
fine large whales were seen sporting, unmolested, 
around us, and some of them came temptingly near. 
One of these excited the ardour of our hitherto 
unsuccessful crew in the highest degree, playing 
immediately around the ship, first on one hand and 
then on the other, and sometimes only a few fathoms 
distant, for almost an hour together. Being anxious 
myself to "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it 
holy," the ship was laid to, and the too ardent crew 

D 



50 



SABBATHS IN THE AUCTIC REGIONS. 



sent beloWj with a view of avoiding all unnecessary- 
complaint or excitement. But, without sentries at 
the hatchways, it was found impossible to keep them 
down. Every now and then they were caught steal- 
ing into the forecastle; and faint suppressed excla- 
mations might be heard — " there she blows ! there 
she blows ! — oh, what a loager " [or huge monster] — 
as the unconscious animal sent forth, in roaring 
expirations, the dense compound of air and vapoar 
from its mighty lungs. By means, however, of our 
different religious services, which were attended to 
as usual, the men, for a time at least, were effectually 
kept away from the interesting scene abroad, and 
some of the disturbing excitement was happily sub- 
dued. The impression that was on my own mind, 
indeed^ had been extended, through the like personal 
experience, to many of my officers and crew, as to the 
advantage of pursuing the path of duty, rather than 
to expect any temporal benefit from the desecration 
of the holy day of the Lord ; this, therefore, had its 
influence on several of our people, in inducing a 
more willing accordance with the established order 
of the ship, for a temporary respite from our every- 
day labour. At the same time we were not without 
some examples amongst us, I trust, of a higher order 
of faith and obedience, in those who felt the pro- 
priety, and acknowledged the duty, of refraining 
from ordinary occupations on the Sabbath, whatever 
might be the temporal loss or disadvantage in so 
doing. 



PROVIDENTIAL TESTIMONIES. 



51 



Towards evening, the whales, which had hitherto 
been so numerous and tantahzing in their approaches 
to the ship, gradually disappeared, and at night, 
when I retired to rest, not one was anywhere to be 
seen. Nevertheless, when I left the deck for the 
night, I playfully directed the officer of the watch, 
whilst giving him the usual and requisite orders, 'to 
catch a whale as soon as the Sabbath was ended,' — 
a duty which, however hard or indeed impracticable 
it might seem to have become, was punctually and 
literally fulfilled. Immediately after twelve at night, 
the sun being still above the horizon, — for it may be 
proper to remind the reader that we were in a lati- 
tude in which, during three months of the year, 
there is continuous daylight, — the prompt and zealous 
ofiicer lowered a boat, in readiness for service, to be 
manned by the forthcoming hands out of the middle 
watch. But before the watch was yet fully relieved, 
whilst the harpooner was adjusting and cleaning his 
weapon, and the boat's crew were rubbing their 
scarce half-opened eyes, a solitary fish, the only one 
that had been seen for several hours, arose within 
a commodious distance of the ship. The boat was 
instantly in pursuit, and, in brief space, the harpoon 
was struck into the back of the chase, and all hands 
were aroused from their beds by the usual alarm to 
assist in the capture. Our excited hopes of a prize, 
however, were greatly damped in the very onset, by 
observing the wounded whale urge its way towards 
a large contiguous sheet of " bay-ice," — a perplexing 



52 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

shelter whicli it succeeded in readiing before any of 
our boats could overtake it. Here it had us at great 
disadvantage. For whilst the ice was too weak to 
bear the weight of a man, to attack it by travelling 
across the surface, it was at the same time so cohesive 
in its substance as to render the penetration of the 
boats exceedingly tardy ; besides the noise of their 
advance through the tenacious medium gave such 
timely warning to the fish as to enable it, without 
difficulty, to avoid our lances. Hence, for several 
hours, during which it adhered to this shelter, it 
effectually kept us at a distance, till our first excited 
hopes of accomplishing the capture had almost sunk 
into despair. But, at length, contrary to the usual 
habits of the animal, it arose, most unexpectedly to 
myself, in a small lake of clear water, in the interior 
of the ice, where one of our boats, more advanced than 
than the rest, was fortunately lying ready to receive 
it ; and there it immediately received the additional 
security of a second harpoon. In the course of an 
hour more, four other harpoons were struck, and 
eventually, though the capture was tedious, the prize 
was secured. 

Thus, again, was our refraining from Sabbath 
desecration satisfactorily rewarded by the capture of 
a fine whale under circumstances most unfavourable 
for success ; and thus, too, was the oft-repeated con- 
viction once more afforded to the crew, that a strict 
obedience to the Divine commands is not only the 
way of duty, but likewise the source of manifest 
blessings. 



PROVIDENTIAL TESTIMONIES. 



53 



An incident occurred in this day's fishing which, 
though not immediately connected with the object in 
view, may here be recorded, as illustrative both of 
the common hazards of the fishery, and of the merci- 
ful preservation of some of our people. Just as we 
had started with the operation of "flensing" the 
captured whale, another appeared very near to the 
ship, which was forthwith attacked, and struck with 
a harpoon. It set off with prodigious velocity to the 
westward, dragging the "fast boat^' through the 
channels of the surrounding ice, at a rate defying 
any attempt to yield either assistance or protection. 
Whilst thus "flying through the water," the boat 
unfortunately passed the shelving margin of a large 
lump of ice, which it grazed on the side, when the 
impulse, under the extraordinary speed, turned it 
completely bottom upward, and, in a single instant 
of time, projected the astonished crew into the sea! 
Being at a great distance from all their comrades — 
hard as these were labouring at the pursuing oar — 
and some of the poor fellows, I believe, being un- 
practised in swimming, they were for a time in 
imminent peril of their lives. But a gracious Pro- 
vidence watched over them; and, like the persons 
with Saint Paul in his shipwreck on Melita, those 
that could swim got first a footing on the piece of ice 
by which they had been overwhelmed, and of the 
rest, some followed supported by oars, or by the help 
they were enabled to give each other; and so it came 
to pass that they escaped all safe to the same tem- 



54 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

porary refuge. No sooner was the whole party safely 
landed, than they got sight of the line to which the 
whale was yet attached, as it was sweeping across a 
submerged projection of the ice ; this they dexterously 
contrived to hook up so as to recover their hold of 
the fish ; but an unfortunate obstruction occurring in 
the running of the line, the harpoon snapped, and 
the prize they had anticipated was lost. 

Section V. — Trying Case of Forbearance in the 
Fishery of followed hy the usual Testimony. 

An instance of forbearance in worldly enterprise — 
the most tantalizing in its circumstances of any which 
I remember to have experienced throughout the 
period of my occupation in the business of the fishery 
— occurred on the same voyage as that of the case 
last recorded. 

On the 13th of July, blowing hard with rain or 
sleet, we moored to a large and heavy floe (a sheet of 
ice about three or four miles in diameter) in order, 
the more commodiously, to enjoy a Sabbath day^s 
repose. A ship from Peterhead, which had for some 
days been accompanying us in our progress through 
the western ices, followed our example, and a con- 
siderable number of her ofiicers and crew joined us 
in our usual Sabbath devotions. An evening service, 
designed chiefly for the instruction and benefit of the 
apprentices, had been concluded, the sacred day of 
the Lord was drawing to a close, and our visitors 
were preparing to return to their ship, when a large 



PROVIDENTIAL TESTIMONIES. 



55 



whale was descried by one of our own seamen in a 
situation very inviting for attempting its capture. 'No 
doubt it was contemplated by many with, an ardent 
and longing gaze ; but the orders for sanctifying the 
Sabbath being quite peremptory^ no attempt, on the 
part of any of our people, was made, to pursue the 
tempting object. Our fellow- worshippers, however, 
being less scrupulous, instantly manned the boat 
which had brought them on board of the Baffin, and 
set forth, along with some others from their own ship, 
in eager pursuit. Nor were their ardent hopes dis- 
appointed ; for in a short time the usual quietness of 
the day, with us, was broken in upon by the shout of 
success from the pursuing boats, followed by vehement 
respondings from the contiguous ship. The attack 
being followed up with the wonted vigour, proved 
successful, and the prize, which proved a valuable 
one, was fully secured by the middle of the night. 

That such a result should not be exceedingly trying 
to the feelings of our people — who saw that their 
competitors had won the prize which we had first 
declined — was more than could be expected. Never- 
theless, both the trial of their obedience, and the 
exercise of their patience, were so sustained, as to be 
at once satisfactory to me, and highly creditable to 
themselves. Their minds, in general, seemed disposed 
to admit the principle on which we acted ; for, in 
addition to the religious sanctions, their repeated 
experiences had testified that the principle was ac- 
knowledged of Heaven. 



56 SABBA.THS IN THE ARCTIC UEGIONS. 

It was my intention to have "cast off," in the 
morning of Monday, to explore the navigable spaces 
of the ice to the westward, with a view to the further- 
ance of our voyage ; but the day being still stormy, 
with constant thick weather from snow, sleet, or rain, 
we found it expedient to remain in somewhat anxious 
idleness, whilst our successful comrades were joyously 
and usefully occupied in flensing the valuable fish 
obtained almost under our stern. This was doubtless 
an additional trial of the good feelings of our crew ; 
but whatever might be the regrets of any in yielding 
up, for conscience sake, our chance of so fine a prize, 
I heard of no other dissatisfaction than the mere 
expression of a natural anxiety 'to be under- way that 
we might find a fish for ourselves.' The state of the 
weather, however, induced us to continue at our 
moorings, till forced off by the movements of the 
contiguous ices, which threatened the safety of the 
ship. Soon afterwards we set forth on our object; 
and having made a stretch to the westward, all hands 
were speedily called into exhilarating action, by the 
discovery of several whales. The eagerness of the 
men, indeed, was, in the first instance, against us ; 
more than one of the objects of their anxiety being 
unnecessarily scared, for want of that wise and consi- 
derate prudence which, under the circumstances, was 
peculiarly needed to temper and direct their excited 
zeal. At length, however, after a variety of mortifying 
failures, a harpoon was ably struck ; and though the 
boat received a desperate heave, and some of its oars 



PROVIDENTIAL TESTIMONIES. 57 

were projected high into the air, happily, no accident 
ensued. The excess of ardour among the men was 
now in full demand, being appropriately drawn off 
by the vigour with which the wounded monster vainly 
struggled for its liberty and life. Outstripping the 
utmost speed of its pursuers, in the beginning of the 
chase, it obtained shelter amid a compact accumulation 
of numerous masses of ice, where it was most diiEcult 
to be reached, and from whence it seemed next to 
impracticable to be dislodged. After encountering, 
however, a variety of little adventures, as well as 
some very threatening obstacles, all of which were 
safely overcome, or spontaneously gave way, as the 
pursuit and lancing advanced — we succeeded in sub- 
duing the powerful animal; and no sooner was it 
cleared of the lines, and in a condition to be removed, 
than the compact aggregation of ices by which it was 
enveloped, began to relax, so that with little further 
embarrassment a channel was cleared out, and the 
prize effectually secured. Thus before the very first 
day available for the fishery, after the Sabbath, had 
come to a close, all our anxieties were relieved, our 
forbearance compensated, and our efforts crowned 
with the desired success. 

Section VI. — Indications of a Providential Rebuke 
for Sahhath Violation. 

If the cases, heretofore cited out of my own ex- 
perience, be sufficient to indicate that a special 



58 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

Providence doth now, even as in former ages of the 
world, yield continual acknowledgments to the con- 
scientious observance of the Sabbath; other cases 
might be brought forward to verify a similar indi- 
cation of Providential rebukes for the neglect or 
violation of that holy day. For as, on the one hand, 
a positive blessing has been distinctly realized in the 
humble endeavour to " keep the Sabbath to sanctify 
it, as the Lord our God hath commanded us so, on 
the other hand, a consistent experience of the con- 
verse truth has also been realized — that in the violation 
of the Sabbath, by secular employments, a positive loss 
and disadvantage are of ten found to result. And this 
observation, it is but candid to say, was suggested by 
what I felt, personally, to be Providential rebukes, 
long before the admirable remarks of Chief Justice 
Hale on the subject, fell into my hands ; and I can 
heartily join him in every word of the declaration in 
respect to the Sabbath, already quoted, that "when I 
have been negligent of the duties of this day, the rest 
of the week hath been unsuccessful and unhappy to 
my secular employments." 

By my Father, whose attention to the religious 
welfare of his sailors was generally both strict and 
exemplary, the important duty of honouring the 
Sabbath was first impressed upon me ; and for several 
voyages before it pleased Almighty God, by his grace, 
to make me desirous, I humbly trust, of living, how- 
ever self-denyingly, by the rule of His holy word, 
and for the promotion of His glory, I was induced. 



PROVIDENTIAL TESTIMONIES. 



59 



by strong convictions of the religious obligation of 
the fourtli Commandment, to endeavour to observe 
it. In the outset of his adventures, indeed, my 
Father did not altogether refrain from fishing on the 
Lord's day, if any whales happened to come imme- 
diately across his course ; yet he seldom looked out 
for them at a distance, or went out of his way to seek 
for them, — whilst in the regularity of his performance 
of divine worship, and in his carefulness to abstain 
from ordinary labour and from worldly intercourse 
with his fellow Commanders, he set an example so 
far above what was usual in his occupation, as to 
impress those around him with the conviction, that 
his aim was to " Eemember the Sabbath day to keep 
it holy." As to myself the impression was such, that, 
on being appointed to the command of a ship, it 
naturally became my endeavour to follow closely that 
part of his commendable practice, in respect to the 
Sabbath, which had so strongly approved itself to my 
mind. Divine service was, therefore, regularly per- 
formed on the Sundays, from the very outset, and all 
unnecessary work, as far as I then saw it right to 
draw the line, was steadily, and, for a considerable 
period, perseveringly abstained from. One very 
conscious deviation, however, at length occurred, 
which, from the circumstances felt at the time to 
result from it in the way of rebuke, is too remarkable 
to be passed over in silence. For as, from motives 
already stated, I have ventured to set forth a con- 
siderable series of personal efforts to sanctify the 



60 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

Sabbath ; both manly duty and Christian candour 
call for the avowal that, as to manifold and great 
defects in these efforts, " I do remember my faults 
this day and, in regard to a very particular and 
well-marked example, I am free to record them. 

My first trial in command, in the adventurous 
occupation to which I had been brought up, was 
attended with most satisfactory success ; and so rapid 
was our progress in the fishery, that, by the middle 
of the season usually available for the object, we had 
obtained a cargo nearly adequate to the capacity of 
the ship, and were in sangjaine hope, if not in firm 
expectation, of a speedy and joyful return, — with " a 
full ship," — to the land of our birth. On a Sunday 
morning, however, whilst cheered by the indulgence 
of these encouraging prospects, we fell in with two 
ships from the same port as my own, and commanded 
by personal acquaintances. After some hesitation 
and scruples of conscience about breaking in upon 
the sanctity of the Sabbath and Sabbath-day duties, 
I was led to invite the Captains on board to break- 
fast. Being all, on this occasion, successful fishers, 
the excitement of social intercourse provoked further 
departures from duty ; the Sabbath seemed forgotten, 
and the conversation, which I had not resolution to 
attempt to divert, proved worldly and vain, and, on 
the part of one of my visitors still worse, besides 
being altogether unsuited for the sacredness of the day. 
And although I felt conscience-stricken and unhappy, 
even in the height of our self-indulgence, yet, from a 



PROVIDENTIAL TESTIMONIES. 



61 



foolish and mistaken politeness, I asked them, as they 
were preparing to retire, to prolong theii' stay till 
after our usual early dinner. As they unhappily 
acquiesced, the religious duties of the day were, for 
the most part, prevented, and the best of the Sabbath 
passed away, not only unsanctified, but desecrated, so 
that when they left me in the afternoon, I could 
realize no other feeling but that of vexation with the 
deepest self-reproach. 

Before leaving the deck for the night, as my cus- 
tom was, I went to the mast-head, when I forthwith 
discovered a tempting opening among the ice in 
which we lay, leading, by no very difficult navigation, 
to a situation in the visible distance most encouraging 
for prosecuting the fishery. The helm was imme- 
diately put up in order to traverse the opening, 
when, having occasion to pass under the stern of the 
ship of one of my morning's associates, he recom- 
mended me, on being informed of the intention of 
the mancEuvre, to desist till the following day, as it 
was unnecessary 7iow to break into our night^s rest, — 
a recommendation which, with an indecision most 
unusual with me, and such as I should have been 
generally much ashamed of, I listened to and fol- 
lowed. But when I arose in the morning, what was 
my mortification to find that the passage, which the 
night before was so easily practicable, was now en- 
tirely closed up. Xor was this all the occasion for 
vexation. I could perceive beyond the barrier a 
ship that had penetrated when the channel was open. 



62 



SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS, 



now actively engaged in fishing, and, as by her 
signals we could discern, with great and repeated 
success ! No effort to join her, however, could be 
in any way availing ; so that we were constrained to 
lie idle spectators of the interesting but inaccessible 
scene. 

The next day numbers of whales came around us 
where we were ; but, although every nerve was 
strained in anxious pursuit, and although the situation 
and circumstances seemed most favourable for suc- 
cess, all our endeavours utterly failed. On the 
Wednesday, having taken a circuit of the intervening 
ice, separating us from the place at which we had 
previously aimed, we again came in sight of the 
interior opening, and now we could perceive that 
several ships had obtained an entrance, and that the 
crews of every one of them were busily engaged in a 
successful fishing. We penetrated towards them, in 
a new position, as far as we could ; but, here also, 
we found a barrier of ice, in the act, indeed, of 
opening, though as yet impenetrable, and shutting 
us out from the interior lake. In this tantalizing 
situation, — in full view of a fishing site, almost 
swarming with whales, to which additional ships 
were every now and then finding access from a dif- 
ferent quarter, and, as soon as they entered, were 
observed to hoist signals indicative of success, — we 
were constrained, a second time, to remain in anxious 
inaction, whereas could we have accomplished a 
passage through the barrier, we might have obtained. 



PROVIDENTIAL TESTIMONIES. 



63 



probably in a few hours, the residue of a cargo 
whereby we should have been in a condition to re- 
treat from the hazards and anxieties of an adventurous 
occupation, consummated by complete success, and 
in full assurance of universal welcome at home. 

Painful as the continued disappointment was to 
those associated with me in the toils and rewards of 
the adventure, — to me it was feelingly instructive. 
The impression was irresistible, that I was chastised 
for the desecration of the Sabbath. But the course 
of disappointment was not yet completed. The bar- 
rier of ice, which was not more than a mile and a 
half in width, was found, towards midnight, to be 
pervious for boats ; though, from the direction of the 
" slack," being head to wind, it was not possible, at 
that time, to accomplish the passage with the ship. 
As such, to anticipate our more tardy advance, 
boats, fully equipped for service, were despatched, 
with instructions to the leading harpooner, — " to 
penetrate the barrier into the interglacial sea beyond, 
and, crossing it to windward, to make for the nearest 
edge of a ' field ' — a sheet of ice of appay^ently 
interminable extent — which formed the limit of the 
navigable space on the north : having gained this 
position he was directed to trace the margin of the 
ice westward, in search of whales, as, in that direction 
the current of success was now observed to set." 

Impelled by ardent fishermen, the boats were soon 
beyond the barrier, and were traced to the margin of 
the field, where I lost sight of them among those of 



64 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

the adjoining lieet. About four hours after they left, 
the wind still blowing fresh "directly in our teeth/' 
the ice was found to be so much separated as to 
encourage the hope of our being able to beat to 
windward through it. An anxious, difficult, and 
hazardous navigation of two or three hours, brought 
us through the interposing ice into the opening 
beyond, where I had the most confident expectation of 
joining my boats in possession of one or more whales. 
But what was my disappointment, when, after a night 
spent in very harassing labour, I discovered the boats 
returning to the ship — not from the westward, the 
direction in which they had been sent, but from the 
very opposite quarter — and the people thoughtlessly 
exulting over the idle capture of a polar bear, — a 
thing of mean and contemptible importance, when 
the grand objects of the fishery were so abundant, as, 
if judiciously sought out, and vigorously pursued, to 
afibrd every reasonable prospect of success ! Unfor- 
tunately, they had mistaken the orders ; and urging 
their way with a headlong zeal, took up their stations 
in the only position where there was a probability of 
their failing ! By the time we reached the field with 
the ship, the " run of fish " was nearly over ; whilst 
the prosperous fleet assembled before us were found 
exulting over the prizes they had captured. Almost 
every ship had been successful. Several of them 
had taken two large and valuable whales, and some 
had obtained sufficient to complete their cargoes ; so 
that a portion of the fleet immediately bore away for 



PROVIDENTIAL TESTIMONIES. 



65 



the land of tlieir hopes, "full ships/' of which their 
flying colours was the usual token. 

The rest of the week was spent in harassing, and 
laborious exertions to attain to the like condition of 
our rejoicing competitors, and, eventually, with a 
small measure of success ; but even this, the capture 
of a single whale, was in reality a mortification, for 
instead of yielding the considerable produce which its 
ample size seemed to promise, it proved lean, meagre, 
and singularly unproductive ! 

As, therefore, the week commenced, so it ended ; 
anxiety, mortification, and disappointment, were con- 
tinued in painful succession, throughout, and the 
lesson which was read to me, by this manifestation 
of a chastising Providence, has remained in vivid 
recollection to this very day ! May God grant that 
the present record of it may be the means of inducing 
some of those who violate the Sabbath for vain amuse- 
ments, worldly compliances, or worldly gains, to 
consider their ways, and be wise ! May they be 
induced to examine into the events of their own lives, 
whether the hand of God, bringing rebukes upon 
their unsanctified indulgences or labours, may not 
sometimes be as clearly discerned! Other circum- 
stances might here be adduced in illustration of the 
same doctrine ; but this, which had so powerful an 
impression on my own mind, may suffice. 



66 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

Section VII. — General Besults of the foregoing 
Testimonies. 

The traces of the special workings of God in 
Providence, and the declarations of His mind in the 
written word, are equally, with the great mass of 
the world, as sealed books, because of unbelief. 

Many, indeed, are greatly self-deceived in regard 
to the reality and extent of their own faith in revela- 
tion; for whilst believing in a certain sense, and to a 
limited extent, the testimonies of Inspiration, they do 
not receive and realize the doctrine of Divine Pro- 
vidence as a practical or experimental fact. And 
amongst the portion of mankind who do really believe, 
the whole book of Providence is by no means equally 
intelligible. There are pages written for individuals, 
and distinctly perceptible to them, into which another 
entereth not. Others there are of so palpable a 
nature, that all who acknowledge the doctrine may 
read. Sometimes, indeed, the voice of Providence is 
thundered forth in such terrific manifestations, that 
the multitudes recognise that voice, and exceedingly 
tremble and quake ; yet, whilst the believing portion 
see distinctly the finger of God, there are many, 
whose hearts are so insensible to Divine interpositions, 
and whose minds are so dark, spiritually, that they 
see nothing but the events of time and chance, or the 
mere contingencies of nature. That these memorials, 
therefore, should be received by all, into whose hands 
they may fall, with the same accordance of feeling 



RESULTS OF PROVIDENTIAL TESTIMONIES. 67 

and interpretation, is more than could reasonably be 
expected. For tbose who reject the doctrine of a 
particular Providence — written though it be as by a 
sunbeam in the Word of God — will not be likely to 
receive, as evidence of the doctrine, the experience 
and testimonies yielded to others ; yet, there may be 
some among those whose minds are in the condition 
of enquiry, — as to whether these things are so ? — to 
whom the present testimonies, under the Divine 
blessing, may subserve the intention of the writer, by 
being received as manifestations of a particular Pro- 
vidence, and as yielding the evidence of fact and 
observation, both to the Divine institution, and to the 
perpetuity of obligation, of the Sabbath. 

Striking, however, as the circumstances herein re- 
corded are, and satisfactory as they proved in regard to 
the impression which they produced, in favour of the 
Sabbath, on those who witnessed them, — they are not 
calculated, without some further explanation, to yield 
any thing like the same measure of conviction to 
others. One particular of information, at least, is 
essential for deriving from them the fair measure of 
evidence which they are capable of yielding. For 
whilst various cases have been brought forward in 
which particular success immediately followed exam- 
ples of peculiar self-denial, as to Sabbath-day labour ; 
it has not yet been intimated in how many corre- 
sponding instances, the like testimony of success, 
during the ensuing week, failed to be given. Now 
it is not a little remarkable that, after a careful ex- 



68 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

amination of the journals of my four last voyages to 
the whale-fishery — being the same to which the fore- 
going records chiefly refer — I can only discover three 
instances, — June the 10th and 24th, 1821, and July 
the 20th, 1823, — wherein, (after resisting the pursuit 
of whales seen on the Sabbath,) we were not successful 
in the fishery of the ensuing week; and in respect 
to these, it must be obvious, to persons at all 
acquainted with the nature of the adventure, that the 
loss was highly problematical, since, though we had 
in every case pursued these whales, we might not 
have made a single capture! 

With this word of explanation, the confiding 
readers will be able to draw their own conclusions 
as to the weight of evidence, hereby yielded to the 
proposition with which we started. Could, however, 
the convictions of those who accompanied me in the 
voyages referred to — consisting, probably, of 150 
difierent men — be conveyed to their minds, an im- 
pression, of a much more decisive and satisfactory 
character, methinks, would naturally and generally 
follow. Eor on occasions when we refrained from 
fishing on the Sunday, whilst others were successfully 
engaged in that object, our subsequent labours, as 
has been seen, often succeeded under circumstances 
so peculiarly striking, that there was scarcely a man 
in the amount of our crew who did not seem to con- 
sider it as the eflfect of the Divine blessing ! 

But, as to those who may yet question the result 
of our argument — that the statements here presented 



RESULTS OF PROVIDENTIAL TESTIMONIES. 



69 



afford decisive evidence of a Providential blessing on 
the endeavour to keep the Lord^s day holy — we would 
claim^ at least, this fair and candid admission, that 
our refraining from Sabbath violation, when urged to 
it by the prospect of great worldly gain, was not the 
occasion of either loss or disadvantage, in the ultimate 
result of our labours. Such result, it is true, might 
be ascribed by objectors, to a different cause. They 
might attribute the peculiar success in the fishery, 
indicated in the foregoing records, as well as the 
interesting and striking incidents hereafter described, 
not to any particular blessing from an unseen source, 
but to the stimulus given to the seamen by previous 
restraints on their enterprise, or to the general quick- 
ening of our intelligence and faculties by the very 
reliance we experienced and the self-denial we had 
practised. If we should admit such an argument — 
as to a certain measure and extent we frankly admit 
the possible tendency of the influence referred to — - 
we should by no means be deprived of our plea for 
the Sabbath. On the contrary, our subject would 
still present a powerful plea in favour of the Scripture 
doctrine. It would still show that the restraint of 
the Sabbath is beneficial to mankind — both physi- 
cally, as elsewhere shown, and mentally ; and that 
the Scriptural appointments, even under apparent 
disadvantages as to this world, have " the promise of 
the life that now is, as well as that to come." It 
would yield, moreover, the important inference that 
principles thus verified— so contrary to the ordinary 



70 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

guidance of human reasonings, and to the interests, 
apparently, of human prosperity — must be the truth 
of God. It would yield, finally, the fair conclusion, 
that the restraints on labour, as to the Sabbath, tend, 
by virtue of the laws of the Creator, to results bene- 
ficial to man, even as his industry, on other occasions, 
and in the time appointed for worldly labour, is 
essential to his ordinary prosperity. 

In conclusion of this chapter, I may further men- 
tion, as the results of experiment and experience, — 
that independently of the positive duty of sanctifying 
the Sabbath, and of the blessing of Providence con- 
nected therewith, — we, ourselves, ofttimes realized 
the wisdom of the institution, in the mere physical 
benefits resulting from its observance. For when 
the preceding week happened to have been labori- 
ously employed, the day of rest became sweetly 
welcome, and obviously beneficial in its restoring 
influence on the energies of the people for fitting 
them for a renewal of their arduous duties ; whilst 
the temporary restraint thus put upon the ardour of 
the seamen, operated, no doubt, as we have before 
admitted, with no small measure of advantage, by 
stimulating to additional energy in their subsequent 
labours. So that in every point of view, and in 
every relation to the well-being of man, spiritual 
and temporal, this sacred appointment stands, we 
conceive, eminently commended both for its wisdom 
and goodness. 



71 



Chapter III. 

APPARENT TESTIMONIES OF PROVIDENCE TO THE 
SABBATH, AS INDICATED BY STRIKING DELIVER- 
ANCES FROM PERILOUS SITUATIONS. 



Section I. — Preliminary Observations. 



The facts and incidents recorded in the foregoing 
Chapter have been adduced, as testimonies of Provi- 
dence to the Sabbath, in the blessing on temporal 
occupations observed to follow a conscientious and 
humble endeavour to hallow that sacred day. 

But if, in the appointments of Divine Providence, 
there be a gracious connection between the conscien- 
tious observance of the Sabbath, and worldly pro- 
sperity ; there must surely be, at least, an equal 
connection between such sanctified observance, and 
our personal preservation and well-being. Were we 
to argue from what we observe in the world, as to 
the frequency and preponderance of accidents among 
desecrators of the Sabbath already referred to, — we 
might arrive at the conclusion, justified by the testi- 
mony of Scripture,* that the circumstantial evidence 

* Exod. sxxi. 14, 15, xxxv. 2; Numb. sv. 32 — 36; Jer. xvii. 27; 
Ezek. XX. 21 ; Amos viii. 4 — 10. 



72 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

is liiglily indicative of the Divine displeasure against 
the sin of Sabbath-breaking. Specific cases, indeed, 
have not unfrequently come before the public, so 
striking in their character, that, were it not wrong in 
man to judge his fellow men who have suffered by 
the visitations of God, one would be led to consider 
them as awful manifestations of Providential judg- 
ments upon the profane violators of the Sabbath. But 
instead of bringing forward any cases of this kind, I 
prefer, as the less objectionable mode of illustration, 
and as more consistent with the objects of this pub- 
lication, to pursue the course hitherto followed, and 
to show, from personal experiences, some examples of 
remarkable deliverances — to my own mind plainly 
providential — strikingly connected with an humble 
attention to religious observances, and an earnest 
endeavour to sanctify the Sabbath. And these, like 
the former, are derived from the journals of my 
voyages to the Arctic Regions. 

Section II. — Record of a happy Deliverance from a 
perilous Situation in the Arctic Seas, at the Con- 
clusion of the Sabbath. 

This instance of deliverance from a situation of 
much danger and anxiety, — which I cannot but deem 
distinctly providential, — occurred at the close of the 
fishery of the year 1820, some particulars concerning 
which have already been recorded. It is not a case, 
indeed, which comes so directly, as evidence of pro- 



PROVIDENTIAL TESTIMONIES. 



73 



vidential interferences or testimonies in respect to the 
Sabbath, as some others, and could not therefore be 
put forward as such without risking an injury to those 
which are felt to be more satisfactory, if not quite 
decisive ; yet — from the consoling influence, under 
circumstances of deep anxiety, of a reverent attention 
to the religious duties of the day referred to — from 
the unlooked-for way of escape subsequently opened 
out for us — and from the remarkable effect and suc- 
cess given to our efforts for extricating ourselves from 
our intricate situation of peril — this case, I trust, may 
not inappropriately be included among other Arctic 
experiences of the advantage derivable from the 
observance of the day appointed to be kept holy. 

When our cargo, obtained under circumstances of 
peculiar blessing, was completed, and we began our 
retreat from the scene of oui* successful labour's, we 
found ourselves very deeply involved among the 
heavy and dangerous ices ranging along the eastern 
coast of the peninsula of Greenland. Four or five 
days, however, of diligent and cautious sailing, brought 
us, late on a Saturday evening, safe within the cheering 
sight of the open ocean. But as we neared the mar- 
gin of the unencumbered expanse of waters, we found 
it separated from us by an extended aggregation of 
ice, called a sea-stream — not uncommon, indeed, in 
such situations — upon the outer edge of which the 
waves were breaking with alarming violence. Such 
an interruption, at all times dangerous with an agi- 
tated sea, was now^ in the latter part of the season, 

E 



74 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

the more so, when almost every mass of ice — from 
the snow and other softer parts being washed away — - 
presented a solid unyielding front in all parts of its 
circumference. The deeply submerged "tongues," 
or projections of the ice, moreover, were calculated, 
in the event of a ship running foul of them, to strike 
her in a position peculiarly dangerous ; being so deep 
beneath the surface of the water as, in the event of 
damage, to render repairs impracticable, and so low. 
in regard to the extent of the extra strengthenings of 
the whalers, as to present the weakest surface for the 
resistance of the blow. Dangerous, however, as was 
the encountering of such an obstacle even to the 
strongest and soundest ship, — in our case, in conse- 
quence of damage previously received, it was in the 
greatest degree formidable. For the lower part of 
the ship^s stem, or foreground/' had, in the early 
part of the voyage, been actually cut off by a severe 
blow against the shelving edge of a heavy mass of 
ice, so that the keel, in calm weather, might be seen 
projecting in front, and alarmingly exposing the ship 
to fatal accident, even on a very moderate concussion 
within the limits of the previous damage. Under 
such circumstances, in regard to the crippled state of 
the ship, — and where a survey of the ice composing 
the "sea-stream" resulted in the discovery that it 
mainly consisted of ponderous masses, with multitudes 
of the much dreaded submarine projections, or tongues, 
at every variety of depth from ten up to even thirty 
feet, — we could not but shrink from attempting to 
force a passage when the risk seemed so great. 



PROVIDENTIAL TESTIMONIES. 75 

Whilst, in natural anxiety to escape from our 
entanglement, I continued, from the mast-head, the 
survey of every visible portion of the barrier, hesi- 
tating, whether to make trial of the inner part, which 
was the least compact and the least dangerous, or 
whether to wait till the wind, now blowing a brisk 
gale, with a heavy sea rolling in, should have sub- 
sided, or else a safer passage in the ice should be 
opened, — the coming up and consequent procedure 
of an accompanying ship, decided me on the former. 
This ship, being without the peculiar risks to which 
we were exposed, and being, moreover, lighter as to 
cargo, and shorter and more nimble in her construc- 
tion than ours, took the lead, and began venturously 
to attempt to force a passage. Having such a pioneer 
for breaking the various lines of continuous ices in 
the way toward the sea, I was tempted, in the hope 
of being able to avoid the otherwise inevitable col- 
lisions, to take advantage of the temporary channel 
that must be made. 

Commending myself first to the merciful protection 
of that God who is a present help in time of need and 
danger, and looking to Him for His gracious influences 
to aid and direct us in our progress, — ail hands were 
ordered up to attend the sails, and we began to follow 
the track that was gradually opened before us. In 
this way, under increasing hopes and encouragements, 
we proceeded safely, until we approached very near 
to the exterior edge — the position of greatest danger 
— where^ from the violent action of the swell upon 



76 SABBATHS IN THE AECTIC REGIONS, 

the ice in that situation^ with the collecting together 
of the largest and most ponderous of the masses com- 
posing the sea-stream, it would have been madness 
to attempt to force a passage. The pioneering ship, 
however, skilfully and smartly managed, continued her 
advance, when, by happy coincidence, it happened, 
that just as she reached the critical point alluded 
to, the very outward masses, which were constantly 
changing as to their relative positions, presented, at 
the instant, a narrow and transient channel, and of 
this the adventurous navigator proceeded promptly 
to avail himself. Trembling with anxiety and sym- 
pathy at the manifest hazard to be encountered, we 
backed our sails to await the issue. The suspense 
was keen, but brief in duration. Under a smart 
management of the sails, and a surprisingly quick 
action of the helm, the ship bounded through the 
tortuous and frightful gap ; whilst the sea was break- 
ing with tremendous violence on one of the heaviest 
of the masses of ice within a fathom of her lee, the 
slightest touch against which must have done damage, 
if not destructive injury, to the vessel. Happily, 
however, our adventurous companion avoided the 
imminent danger, and forthwith hauled upon a wind 
rejoicing in his escape and safety; but, before we 
could fill our sails so as to get way on the ship — even 
before we could have passed the narrows, had we 
been at the very stern of our pioneer — the chain of 
ice in the front had so overlapped, that the channel 
was utterly impracticable. To attempt, under such 



PROTIDEXTIAL TESTIMOXIES. 



77 



circumstances^ to throw ourselves upon a chain of ice 
composed of masses of from ten to twenty thousand 
tons in weight, and these in a state of violent agi- 
tation, could not have been justified — it would have 
evinced a feeling of presumption, rather than of faith 
— a tempting of Providence rather than a Christian 
dependance on providential assistance. As the only 
means, therefore, of avoiding the danger, into which, 
with all sails aback, we were rapidly drifting, we 
hastily grappled the nearest piece of ice, by a hawser 
out of the stern, so as to enable us, by its resistance 
of the ship's velocity, to wear round, without any 
violent concussions, in a navigation so encumbered 
as to render impracticable the ordinary method of 
effecting the evolution. The ship's head being thus 
directed away from the sea, we penetrated inwards, 
with our safety-drag astern, through a chain of heavy 
lumps of ice, so compacted together as to afford us 
a temporary shelter from the violence of the swell ; 
we then seized upon the largest of the masses within 
reach for affixing our ice-anchor. 

The immediate danger being thus overcome, all 
eyes were naturally directed to our now happy fellow- 
adventurers, — and with feehngs something like those 
of the perilled seamen in a tempest-tossed wreck, who 
perceive the safe escape to the shore of some of their 
more daring, or more favoured shipmates, — when we 
beheld them crowding all available sail, and fleeing, 
as if followed by an enemy, the scene of their 
anxieties and hazards. Entering, so fully as we were 



78 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

able to do, into their joy, the consciousness was the 
more depressing, that for us there was now no release, 
nor present prospect of escape. 

The power of a compact stream of ice,* however 
narrow the chain of pieces, in resisting the force of 
the waves, is most remarkable, and, in the present 
instance, proved strikingly efficacious. Still, how- 
ever, from the rapid and sometimes unaccountable 
changes of the ice, under the action of a heavy swell;, 
our situation was one of no ordinary peril. Hence, 
for many succeeding hours, we were kept in a state 
of varying but increasing danger; and had it not 
been for the consoling assurance, that all our ways 
were under the direction of that gracious Being whose 
assistance and guidance, at the outset of this perilous 
adventure, had been earnestly invoked, we must have 
suffered most intensely from the various and formi- 
dable risks with which we were surrounded. The 
hazard we at first voluntarily encountered had in- 
creased tenfold by our proximity to the open sea; 
and this again was constantly augmenting by an 
unfortunate and unexpected change in the state of 
the weather. For the wind increased to a gale ; rain 
began to descend in torrents ; the sea rolled with 
frightful violence upon the margin of the contiguous 
stream, and was constantly warning us of its destruc- 
tive power by its sublime action upon the sea- ward 
ices, and its constant terrific roaring. 

* A stream of ice is an oblong collection of pieces of drift-ice, or bay- 
ice, the pieces of which are continuous, — sometimes for miles together. 
It is called a sea-stream when it is exposed on one side to the ocean, and 
is calculated to afford shelter from the sea or waves to vessels within it. 



PEOYIDENTIAL TESTIMONIES. 



79 



It would be tedious to detain tlie reader with, a 
description of the different resources to which, under 
Providence, we looked for preservation, in the event 
of the swell breaking in upon us, — with which in 
one instance we were more than threatened — as these, 
to our much thankfulness, were not otherwise requi- 
site except as to the repetition of the manoeuvre in 
the first instance adopted, for retreating, a second 
time, from the immediate margin of the open sea. 
For a channel having broken out to windward, un- 
navigable indeed because of its direction, the waves 
began to roll in upon us with alarming force ; —in 
this case, having again grappled a small lump of ice, 
with which the ship could make a little head-way, we 
forced a passage further into the interior; and when 
a position of temporary security in a smoother sea 
had thus been gained, — for we were not disposed to 
retreat farther from the proximate sea than was abso- 
lutely necessary for safety, — we moored to the largest 
piece of ice, ■within reach, as before. 

The sacred day of the Lord had commenced about 
the time when we were hesitating as to the propriety 
of attempting a passage to sea-ward ; and by the time 
that our last removal was completed, the usual hour 
of morning prayers had more than arrived. Our 
present situation being one of appropriate quiet, the 
anxiety of feeling, hitherto so painfully excited, was 
sweetly soothed by the uniting together of the whole 
of the crew, whilst, in our humble manner, the truly 
devotional and comprehensive Liturgy of the Church, 



80 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

was read. Deeply, I believe, was felt the force of 
the supplications wherein we say — Mercifully," O 
God, " assist our prayers that we make before thee 
in all our troubles and adversities, whensoever they 
oppress us — and for the glory of thy name turn 
from us all those evils that we most righteously have 
deserved; and grant, that, in all our troubles, we may 
put our whole trust and confidence in thy mercy, 
and evermore serve thee in holiness and pureness of 
living, to thy honour and glory ; through our only 
Mediator and Advocate, Jesus Christ our Lord !" 

This devotional and profitable service being over, 
— with a plain address, as our custom was, to the 
attentive sailors, adapted to the occasion and circum- 
stances so strongly pressing upon us, — we all returned 
to the look-out greatly composed in feeling, and 
cheered in hopes, not only of a merciful preservation, 
but of a speedy deliverance from our situation of 
peril. For already had the dark and threatening 
aspect of the heavens changed ; the endangering gale 
had greatly subsided ; and the wind, hitherto con- 
siderably out of the sea, had begun to shift to a 
somewhat more favourable quarter. 

Towards evening, the improvement in our pros- 
pects was such, as to encourage us to change our 
position by " warping into a more clear and com- 
manding situation to windward. About 10 p.m. whilst 
in progress of the tedious operation in which we were 
engaged — ^heaving the ship to windward by means of 
hawsers attached in succession to the heavier masses 



PROVIDENTIAL TESTIMONIES. 81 

of ice in the line of our advance — a devious passage 
was spontaneously cleared away through the nearest 
margin of the sea-stream, and the same became sin- 
gularly sheltered, from the force of the swell, by 
the bending down of a distant promontory of ice to 
the eastward. Under this combination of improving 
circumstances, a way of escape was gradually opened 
out for us. It was yet, however, encumbered with 
difficulties, — difficulties arising from the direction of 
the wind which, though more favourable than it had 
been, was not sufficiently fair for ordinary sailing, 
and from the nature of the channel to be pursued, 
which was narrow, obstructed, and intricate. But 
the grand difficulty, with a scant wind, and under the 
peculiar circumstances of the ice, was this — to avoid 
the constant tendency, in a ship so close-hauled, of 
falling to leeward of the channel, and thus becoming 
inextricably involved in the vast body of ice, thickly 
compacted there by the influence of the recent gale. 
In a case, then, of a navigation so peculiar and in- 
tricate that a single failure of purpose in the manage- 
ment of the ship, or a single mistake, or deficiency 
of effort, on the part of any of the people in the boats 
employed in clearing the passage, would have been 
fatal to our hopes, — we realized, in this wise, the 
Providence of God, in 'preventing us in all our 
doings with His most gracious favour, and in further- 
ing us with His continual help,' so that the exertions 
now made, at the utmost stretch of possibility, were 
carried forward throughout, without a single mistake, 

E 2 



8^ SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

failure, deficiency of effort, or miscalculation of resultS;> 
and were crowned with complete success ! 

In thus confidently expressing my conviction of a 
gracious interposition of Providence being, in this 
instance, realized, I would desire to guard the doubt- 
ing reader against scorning the conclusion, by mistake 
of the method in which the interposition was sup- 
posed to be accomplished. Powerful as I believe 
to be the efficacy of prayer, when fervently and 
scripturally offered ; and minute and prevalent as I 
consider to be the operations of a gracious Providence ; 
— yet far am I from imagining that, on our account, 
the raging storm was made prematurely to abate its 
violence — or the inanimate ices to move asunder 
against natural causes — or the unfavourable wind to 
change its direction contrary to its laws, — for any of 
these effects would require an influence, not merely 
providential, but miraculous. Nevertheless do I 
consider it as neither fanaticism nor presumption to 
believe, that our poor prayers — humble and imperfect 
as they were felt to be — might be and certainly were, 
in various essential respects, available, as evinced in 
the peculiar blessing on our subsequent efforts. And 
herein, I conceive the providence to have been 
specially manifested ; — in the suggestions made upon 
our minds, as to the position we were induced to 
take — as to the means of preservation we were 
enabled to adopt — and as to the powerful and efficient 
exertions which all our people were enabled to make 
throughout the progress of the critical adventure. 



PROVIDENTIAL TESTIMONIES. 



8a 



And, in this way, within the range of the usual 
methods and operations of the Divine governance, 
the watchful Christian may be able, not merely to 
discover the finger of God, but to find evidences of a 
providential interference as satisfactory to his own 
mind, as if the elements were diverted from their 
course, or the raging waves, contrary to their natural 
tendencies, were instantly stilled ! And as the 
evidences, on the occasion referred to, were, to 
myself, of this nature — though I may have failed to 
communicate the like impression to the reader — I 
have ventured to record the circumstances of the 
case, as an additional example of the gracious and 
consoling workings of a particular Providence, and, 
if but in the most inferior degree, as a providential 
testimony of a blessing on a reverential regard to the 
Sabbath. 

After these reflections, in anticipation of the result 
of the adventure, I shall only add a brief description 
of our final manoeuvre, extracted, in substance, from 
the original Journal of the Voyage in which it 
occurred. 

Having made considerable progress in warping to 
windward, we found, about 10 p.m., our situation to 
be such, — the ice being now more quiescent, the 
wind moderate, and the weather fine — as to present 
a hopeful prospect of escaping through the now 
slackened barrier to seaward. All available sail was, 
therefore, forthwith set, and, having placed three 
boats at the " tow-rope" to assist the ship in difficult 



84 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

passages — such as when sailing too close to the wind^ 
or when required to make turns so sudden as to be 
too much for the unaided action of the helm — we 
cast off from the ice, and, in the feeling of confiding 
reliance on the blessing of God, proceeded on our 
way through the channel presented to us. And such 
was our success in the undertaking, that, throughout 
the tortuous windings and variety of difficulties we 
had to encounter, we never failed in any one object, 
nor struck a single piece of ice of any consequence. 
Having passed the original barrier, we found that 
the distant sheltering promontory, to which we owed 
our opportunity of escape, was so far bent down at 
its eastern extremity, as to be almost in contact with 
the fast consolidated body of ice from which we had 
escaped ; happily, however, we discovered a tolerably 
safe channel in its sea-tossed margin, through which, 
without much difficulty, and without any damage, 
we safely passed ; — " Thanks be to God !" 

The time of this merciful deliverance was near the 
hour of midnight; nevertheless the occasion was 
celebrated with gladsome hearts, by calling all hands 
together for evening prayers — concluded by a dis- 
course selected for the occasion out of a valuable 
collection of " Village Sermons." 

With cheered and animated feelings, we soon after 
began to wend our way, in the open unencumbered 
sea, towards the land of our ardent desires and hopes. 
Happy the Christian whose heart and affections are, 
in similar manner, so habitually set upon the things 
of his eternal hopes, and on the region of eternal 



PROVIDENTIAL TESTIMO^ilES. 



85 



blessednesSj that he is ever ready to flee from the 
present world, with its dangers and anxieties, hke the 
imperilled navigator from the Arctic ices ! Happy 
the man, who, in the constant contemplation of the 
glorious superiority of heavenly things, is privileged 
to attain, whilst in the midst of life, and in time of its 
best happiness, to the exalted feeling of the spiritually- 
minded Apostle to the Gentiles, — " having a desire 
to depart, and to be with Christ, which is far better/^ 

Section III. — Providential Manifestations, in con- 
nection with Sahhath-day Duties, experienced in 
a striking Deliverance from a most dangerous 
Entanglement among the Arctic Ices. 

Towards the close of my twenty-first and last 
adventure to the Arctic Seas, it was our privilege to 
experience that peculiar manifestation of providential 
mercy, the particulars of which are here recorded. 
Those, among the readers of these Memorials, who 
are in the habit of regarding the dispensations of 
Providence, under the enlightening influences of the 
Spirit of Christ, will have no hesitation, methinks, of 
joining testimony with the author, that "this is the 
finger of God ; " and those whose experiences of the 
methods of providence are yet doubtful and obscure, 
will, I hope, in laudable exercise of Christian can- 
dour, consider, — whether the circumstances here 
fairly and honestly stated are not beyond the ordinary 
operations of time and chance ? 

With the view of giving a better idea of the nature 



86 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

of the circumstances referred to, it may be useful to 
preface my narrative with a description of the pecu- 
liar character of the situation where the adventure 
occurred. The scene of the adventure was on the 
eastern coast of Greenland, within a large body of 
the heaviest and most dangerous ices of this singular 
region, — a situation usually considered as that of the 
greatest hazards of any available for the prosecution 
of the fishery. Such, indeed, was the apprehension, 
entertained by the whalers of the last century, of the 
danger of the ice on the east side of the peninsula, 
usually denominated by them the West Land, — that 
they dreaded, under any circumstances, to approach 
within sight of the coast. Nor were their fears 
groundless; as this vicinity was well known to 
have been the site of some of the most terrible 
disasters, among the Dutch, which the adventurous 
service had ever sustained. But the growing scarcity 
of whales, in the exterior and more northern stations, 
since the year 1816 or 1817, had impelled adventure 
towards the west, in the direction of their retreat, 
until the fishery was brought to the very shores of 
the long lost Greenland. And here, under the not 
unfrequent encouragement of very ample success, a 
hazardous fishery was subsequently, for a few years, 
carried on, and protracted so late in the summer of 
each year, till the fishermen, in many cases, were 
fairly driven ofi* by the accumulated dangers of stormy 
weather, lengthening nights, and the setting-in of 
the tremendous ices of this region upon the land. 



PEOTIDENTIAL TESTIMO>'IES. 



87 



Though, however, the apprehension of extraordinary 
hazard, as connected with this station, had, after two 
or three seasons of trial and experience, hegim to 
give way ; yet the occurrence of a melancholy catas- 
trophe to one of the adventurers, in the year 1822, 
gave a cautionary check, for a time, to the rapidly 
growing confidence of the whalers. 

The case of this unfortunate ship, the King George 
of London, was singularly pitiable. A peculiar 
fatality seemed to attend her fi'om the commencement 
of the adventurous voyage. During one of the heavy 
gales which, in the early part of that season, were 
more than usually severe, as to the low temperature 
with which they were attended, the crew of the King 
George became unhappily engaged in the too-suc- 
cessful pursuit of a whale. The thermometer fell 
below zero. Thick weather setting in, the men in 
the boats lost sight of their ship, and, for about fifty 
hours, were exposed, without shelter or adequate 
sustenance, to all the severities of the intense cold, 
incalculably aggravated in its influence by the violence 
of the storm. One poor fellow fell a victim to the 
severity of the exposure whilst yet abroad, and 
another — even after he had reached the ship, and 
began to feel the influence of the genial warmth — 
sunk under the mortal penetration of the fi'igorific 
blast. The remainder of those who had been engaged 
in the boats recovered, but none of them escaped 
without the most as^onizino; suffering, and few without 
permanent injury. Some lost their fingers — others 



88 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

their toes; some their hands — others their feet. The 
surgeon of the ill-fated ship declared to a medical 
friend, who supplied him with some dressings, that 
he had amputated thirty-five fingers and toes in one 
day! An example of the severity of the cold was 
adduced by one of the King George's sailors, who 
stated, that a quantity of beef that was sent out to 
the men upon the ice, when they were first dis- 
covered at the conclusion of the gale, was taken 
straight from the boiling coppers; but before the 
boats conveying it could reach their starving com- 
rades, though at no great distance, it was frozen so 
hard that they had to cut it in pieces with axes ! 

This striking warning of Providence, distressful as 
it was, proved but the beginning of sorrows. For the 
enterprising Captain, notwithstanding the enfeebled 
condition of his crew, subsequently penetrated, in 
pursuance of the fishery, to the ice-encumbered 
shores of the West Land, where he perseveringly 
remained so late in the season, till all other adven- 
turers, admonished by the risks manifestly accumu- 
lating there, had, with but one exception, made good 
their retreat. On the 4th of September, the King 
George was for the last time seen, — then attempting 
to get clear of the fast closing ices, but the efibrt, it 
appears, must have proved unavailing, as neither the 
ship, nor any individual of the unfortunate crew, was 
ever heard of afterwards! 

In a situation of this kind, it was, and not very 
far removed from the same parallel, that the personal 



PROYIDEXTIAL TESTIMONIES. 



89 



adventure of the present memorial occurred. Whilst 
yet we lingered immediately upon the eastern coast 
of Greenland, in the 7 1st degree of latitude, anxiously 
hoping for an opportunity to increase an indifferent 
cargo, the summer of the year 1823 closed unex- 
pectedly upon us. Enveloped within an icy boundary 
of fields and floes of the most ponderous description, 
extending in crowded aggregation to fifteen or twenty 
leagues from the land, — our situation, in the event of 
the ice being set in upon the shore, according to the 
prevalent influence of the season in this particular 
region, was felt to be one of no ordinary risk; for a 
premature winter had overtaken us, before we were 
aware of the danger which we should have to en- 
counter. — But I proceed wdth the narrative of events 
from the time of our first movement from the coast. 

On the 4th of August, no object of duty being 
present to occupy me, I landed on Eathbone Island, 
which, for the first time, I had found accessible. 
I then had the opportunity of verifying the position 
in which it was laid down in my survey of the pre- 
ceding year ; and, though I had but one chronometer 
with me on each voyage, it was gratifying to find, 
that the longitude now obtained, as corrected by two 
sets of recent lunars, was only 8' 15" different from 
that previously assigned to it ; whilst the latitude was 
found to be accurate within two-thirds of a mile. 
The plan of my narrative prevents me going into the 
particulars of the researches made on this occasion ; 
but I may take occasion, by the way, to mention, 



90 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

that as we descended from the Island we met with 
several patches of snow, of a reddish colour on the 
surface, probably tinged with the same singular 
vegetation as that which gave the extraordinary- 
appearance to the " Crimson Cliffs," discovered by 
Captain Koss, in Baffin's Bay. The colouring matter, 
in a small specimen, being left on a piece of stone, 
was found, after the dissolving of the snow, to be of a 
deep red, powdery or granular appearance. 

From the day of this little exploration, the shore 
was not, I believe, again accessible. For within a 
week of that time, the autumnal gales, with their 
usual attendants of heavy incessant rain, and a general 
inset of the ice upon the land, commenced, so that 
by the 10th, the island on which we had so recently 
landed was found to be entirely enveloped within a 
broad and impervious body of heavy ice. 

In the first of these gales, a circumstance occurred 
of so curious a nature, as, unconnected with the 
object of this narrative it otherwise may be, may 
excuse me in recording it. Large and numerous 
flocks of birds, consisting almost entirely of little 
auks, ( Aha AlleJ were flying past the ship, for 
many hours together, in perpetual succession, in the 
direction of the land. As, on account of the strength 
of the wind, they kept very near the surface of the 
sea and ice in their flight, many of them came un- 
expectedly in contact with the rope by which the 
ship was attached to the floe, (a hawser of only 
inches in diameter) and struck it with such prodigious 



PROVIDENTIAL TESTIMONIES. 



91 



force, that the unfortunate little birds fell down, not 
merely stunned, but actually dead on the spot ! 
Scarcely a flock passed, within the range of the 
hawser, out of which some did not fall, though a 
portion of those which were winging their way on 
the level of the rope, were to be seen making a violent, 
and often fruitless efibrt, to avoid the unlooked-for 
object. Some hundreds, it was believed, were thus 
instantaneously brought down. Out of one flock, no 
less than six were observed to fall, and out of another 
five — all of which dropped, lifeless, alongside of the 
ship. Being the Lord's day, I did not allow a boat 
to be lowered to pick up the game so singularly 
killed ; but the ingenuity of the sailors devised a 
mode of fishing them out of the water, at least such 
of them as drifted alongside of the ship, by means of 
a little bucket attached to the end of a pole. And, 
in this way, such a considerable number was ob- 
tained, as to aflbrd an agreeable treat — for though 
very dark coloured in flesh, these birds yield a palat- 
able and wholesome variety after long use of salted 
provisions — to all hands on board. But large as this 
quantity was, by far the greater proportion of those 
which were thus killed, were believed to be lost, as 
great numbers of the lifeless birds were seen drifting 
past the ship out of reach of the little apparatus by 
which the others were fished up. 

The efiect of the momentum of these small creatures 
was most surprising, not only in producing death as 
suddenly as the most fatal shot, but in the singular 



92 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

demolition of their thick short bills. Among those 
which, in this way, were struck down by collision 
with the rope, some were observed to have their bills 
crushed or broken — others to have both manibles 
completely torn off — and, in a few, the whole beak 
was found to have been actually driven backward 
into the head ! Altogether it was a curious, and, to 
a sensitive observer, a painful scene, to watch the 
approach of the poor unconscious birds; to see a 
portion of the flock strike the extended rope ; and, 
without either the fire or report of the usual instru- 
ment of destruction, to obseiwe them fall so instan- 
taneously inanimate, beneath the undesigned snare ! 

The regular progress of destruction, by this singular 
fortuitousness of circumstances, may read us a lesson 
of instruction on the little anticipated contingencies 
of human mortality. After witnessing the catastrophe 
with a few of the leading flocks of the passing birds, 
the consequences to succeeding flocks, notwithstand- 
ing the almost innumerable chances of escape, were, 
with us, fully anticipated ; but as to the progress of 
mankind in their flight through life, on the swift 
wings of time, one is led to reflect, in contrast of 
this ordinary prescience, how few among those who 
see the catastrophe which, in a moment unexpected, 
brings others down, learn to anticipate the risks of a 
like catastrophe to themselves ! It is enough, in 
other events, to witness a few examples in order to 
calculate the probable results; but in the personal 
application of the perils of life, notwithstanding the 



PROTIDENTIAL TESTIMONIES. 



93 



momentous consequences of a dependent eternity^ 
" all men/' as it has been observantly said, " think 
all men mortal but themselves ! " There may be 
some, among the readers of these Memorials, of this 
description, whose minds are dead to a sense of their 
own mortality; — some, perhaps, whose compassionate 
feelings may be excited for the singular destruction 
of the unconscious little birds — beings only of a brief 
span of time — who have little anxiety of feeling as to 
the risks of their own swift progress through the 
limited space of life — beings, though they be, destined 
for an immortality of endurance ! The invisible line, 
they must be aware, is stretched across the plane of 
their progress ; in ezery moment of time they do 
know that some one or other of their fellow-creatures 
is unexpectedly struck down by it ; would to God, 
that the fate of the little birds might be commissioned 
to read them this admonitory lesson— to lay to heart 
the tremendous and awful perils of ?l j^remature fall, 
and, as wise men, to " Prepare to meet their God!^^ 
But to return to my subject. Having fully ascer- 
tained, at the conclusion of the gale, the actual com- 
mencement of the inset of the ice, and other tokens 
of a premature winter, we began our retreat from the 
now dangerous coast. Under a brisk and favourable 
breeze, and among incompact fields and floes, our 
progress to seaward was, at first, rapid and encou- 
raging; but, after about six hours of prosperous sailing, 
our hopes were changed into anxious apprehensions 
by the discovery of a chain of the most ponderous 



94 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

ices, on every point of the compass, except the direc- 
tion from whence we had advanced, forming, through 
the entire range of vision from the mast head, one 
continuous and impervious barrier! As no human 
effort or skill could possibly make any impression on 
these prodigious ices, all that was left us was to wait, 
in reliance on a gracious Providence, for some favour- 
able change. But day after day passed heavily away, 
and yet we were detained as helpless captives ; and 
though with each succeeding gale (for the gales had 
now become both frequent and fierce) the ice was 
found constantly to be altering its position, yet the 
changes which diminished the area, and varied the 
spaces of the interior, had no favourable efiect what- 
ever on the closeness of the exterior barrier. Whilst 
we were thus encountering such dismal weather and 
such painful confinement, circumstances occurred 
which led us to reflect, with anxious and desponding 
feelings, on the beauty and enjoyments of an English 
summer. "What a contrast, was our situation, bound 
up, as we were, among impervious fields of ice, 
harassed by storms and perplexed by fogs, to the 
luxuriant meadows, the verdant groves, and the 
grateful climate of our happy land ! 

But it is not necessary, as regards my present pur- 
pose, to follow the detail of our anxious progress out 
of this hazardous situation. Every ingenuity was 
exercised, every opportunity improved, and every 
nerve strained to the utmost, in furtherance of the 
desired object. 



PKOVIDENTIAL TESTIMONIES. 



95 



On ttie 20tli of Augusts—after frequent changes of 
position, and several explorations in other lines of 
advance by retreating, occasionally, again into the 
interior of the ices — we had approached, apparently, 
within two or three leagues of the sea, which the 

blink," or reflection in the sky, during a brief 
interval of clear weather, now distinctly pourtrayed. 
But the general obscurity of the atmosphere pre- 
vented us finding any outlet. Whilst lying-to under 
the lee of a floe, waiting for the clearing of the fog, 
the sea, which had previously been as smooth as a 
lake, became unexpectedly undulated, and the ice, 
through the influence of a penetrating swell, was 
forthwith put into great agitation. The floe adjoining 
us exhibited the usual, but wonderful, influence of 
the swell, by cracking and breaking in every direc- 
tion ; so that a sheet of ice, perhaps half a mile in 
breadth, fifteen to twenty feet in thickness, and solid 
as some of the species of marble, was, in a few minutes, 
broken up into hundreds of pieces, of from twenty to 
fifty yards in diameter ; whilst all the larger con- 
tiguous pieces partook of the same destructive influ- 
ence. 

The w^eather had now become stormy, and a per- 
plexing night, from fog and darkness, came on, during 
which, being unable to make fast," on account of 
the swell, we had to tack about, in the utmost peril 
and anxiety, till morning, in small and difficult 
openings, thickly encumbered with ice. At day- 
break, (about 3 A.M.) the weather having partially 



96 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

cleared, a dubious and embarrassed channel, among 
the ice, was discovered, leading a considerable dis- 
tance towards the S.S.W., in which quarter both the 
reflection of the atmosphere, and the direction of the 
swell, indicated the proximity of the open sea. A 
deep impression, providentially, rested on my own 
mind, as to the vital importance of instant exertion 
to embrace the present opportunity of advancing on 
our way. Sail was instantly set, the helm was put 
up, and the ship bounded, along a tortuous line, 
through the intricate and hazardous channel which 
the thickly accumulated ice very imperfectly afforded. 
I saw we must be heset; but this result, with all its 
attendant risks, was unhesitatingly yielded to, as it 
was of the utmost moment to gain the nearest acces- 
sible position to the sea, that a chance of escape might 
be left. The ice was closing, however, with alarming 
celerity ; our course, every moment, became more 
embarrassed and intricate, till, at length, the approxi- 
mating sides of the channel came into contact, and 
the ship, in a few minutes, was closely enveloped. 
For a time, indeed, small occasional spaces remained 
among the different masses of ice, through which, by 
the force of the wind, with the help of our hawsers, 
we were enabled to advance about a mile farther, and 
then, whilst the sea, though now clearly within view, 
was yet at the distance of four or five miles, the ship 
became firmly and immoveably fixed. But most 
thankful was I for the progress we had made ; for, 
on the clearing of the sky, in the course of the day, 



PROYIDEXTIAL TESTIMONIES. 



97 



the ice was found compacted around us into a solid 
and continuous body, in whicli, to the utmost exten- 
sion of vision^ from the mast-head, not a drop of 
water, except the sea towards which we were press- 
ing, could, in any direction, be discerned. So that we 
now found that another hour's delay, at the place 
where we passed the night, would have involved us, 
perhaps, in an inextricable dilemma, at once out of 
sight and out of reach of the sea. 

Still, however^ our position was one of great 
jeopardy, both as to the uncertainty of our being able 
to force a passage through the compact and formid- 
able barrier, which yet lay without us, and as to the 
risk of almost certain destruction, in the event of a 
gale coming on from the direction of the sea, as we 
receded from the shelter of the ice. But that gracious 
Protector to whom our ways and proceedings had 
been constantly committed^ in humble reliance upon 
His encouraging promises, not merely permitted us 
eventually to realize his faithfulness to the very letter 
of Scripture ;* but meanwhile, not unfrequently, to 
experience the sweet consolation of that "peace of 
God which passeth all understanding i" 

The night that now again commenced, however^ 
was so abounding in anxieties, as sometimes to over- 
press those confiding reliances, by which, if in their 
perfect exercise, the mind ought to have been per- 
manently stayed. The swell penetrating where we 
were, put the ice in increasing motion, so that the 

* Psalm xxxvii. 5; Iv. 22; Prov. xvi. 3; 1 Peter y. 7; Pliillip. iv. 6-7. 

F 



98 



SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC KEGIONS. 



noise and vibrations of the ship whilst grinding or 
thumping against the contiguous pieces, defied either 
forgetfulness of mind, or the happy unconsciousness 
of sleep, under such perpetual admonitions of our 
danarerous situation. 

o 

For the most part, during this anxious progress, 
we found the ice closely wedged together under a 
considerable pressure ; but at periodic intervals of 
about twelve hours — indicative of the influence of a 
tide — the pressure was so far relaxed that, under the 
force of a brisk and favourable gale, together with 
the help of our hawsers at the capstan and windlass, 
we were generally enabled to make a little progress 
to seaward, both morning and evening. The hard- 
ness of the surface, sharpness of the angles, and 
magnitude of the masses of ice around us, however, 
rendered our advance both tedious and hazardous; 
for the most guarded blows, when the ship fetched 
way in a crack, caused her to shake and rebound in 
an astonishing and alarming manner. 

The morning of the 22d presented a clearer sky 
than we had observed for some weeks, when, not- 
withstanding a repeated experience of the tendency 
of the ice at this season, to set to the westward, I 
was greatly surprised to discover how very far we 
had been irresistibly and unconsciously carried in 
that direction,— for the land, when now seen, was 
found to be within about fifteen leagues of us, though 
we had apparently receded, according to the distance 
given by the log, not less than a hundred miles I On 



PROYIDEXTIAL TESTIMONIES. 



99 



calcuiating, more particularly, the quantity of tlie 
inset, — for as the wind for the most part had been 
blowing directly along-shore, the ivesting we had 
made was to be ascribed entirely to this tendency of 
the ice to approach the land, — I found that the 
difference of meridian, produced in the course of 
seven days by the operation, apparently, of this cause 
alone, was 1° 50' of longitude, or about forty geo- 
graphical miles ; whilst the entire combined effect of 
the current and of the wind, was a drift of 71 miles 
in the direction of S. 32° W., or ten miles a day. 

In the afternoon of this day, two ships stood in 
from the sea to the edge of the ice : they approached 
us within three or four miles, hove to, and appeared 
to be obser^'ing us for some hours. We were in 
hopes that they would have regarded our perilous 
position, and have waited the issue ; but, to our great 
grief, they made sail and stood away out of sight. 
Gladly, I doubt not, would many of our anxious 
crew have abandoned their little property, their 
wages, and even their ship, in order to attain to the 
safety of the envied voyagers, and accompany them 
to their home. 

During the following night, the ice was quiet, and 
we happily reposed in peace. At the usual hour in 
the morning, the pressure relaxed, and we again 
began to move, and made such encouraging progress 
that, when the pressure returned, the sea became 
visible from the deck, — the verge of the horizon, 
illuminated by the sun, being seen over the extreme 



100 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

edge of tlie ice towards the S.S.E. Hence^ we found, 
that its distance must be less than two miles. 

In the evening, however, the wind freshened, the 
sky thickened, and a great deal of rain fell. The 
prospect became gloomy and disheartening. The ice 
around us was prodigiously heavy. We had, indeed^ 
been recently passing through the very centre of a 
heavy floe, which, before the breaking up of the ice, 
already recorded, was in a state of firm and tenacious 
continuity — 'a continuity which no immediate power, 
but the action of a swell, could possibly have divided. 
The mass alongside of which the ship lay, and to 
which we had moored, — a mere fragment of the 
original,— was about one hundred yards in diameter, 
and twenty to thirty feet in thickness. The sides 
appeared like a wall of quartz : hard, crystalline, and 
vertical. Whilst in this state the ice for a short time 
slacked ; a swell set in and put us in motion ; but the 
night coming on, with an easterly wind, prevented 
us making progress. Happily we were yet sufficiently 
immured to be defended, so long as the ice should 
continue compact, against the destructive power of 
the swell. 

The next day, August 24th, was a time of peculiar 
mercy. It was the Lord^s day, and, in any case but 
that of a great and urgent necessity, would have been 
made, I trust, a day of sanctified rest. It was a day 
to the events of which the foregoing relation is mainly 
introductory ; but I have thought it proper to make 
this previous record, that, under a clear perception of 



PROVIDENTIAL TESTIMONIES. 



101 



the perils of our situation, the reader miglit be able 
to appreciate the mercy of our deliverance, to sym- 
pathise in the feelings to which it gave rise, and, 
peradventure, to yield accordance to otir decided 
convictions of a special blessing having been vouch- 
safed to our poor efforts, in the crisis of our hopes 
and necessity, to sanctify the Sabbath, and, by an 
humble dependance on Divine direction and further- 
ance, to honour the God of Providence. And if 
such, happily, should be the conviction on the mind 
of the reader, these introductory particulars will not 
have been recorded in vain. 

At four A.M., of this eventful day, I was informed 
that the wind, previously south-easterly, had veered 
considerably towards the west, and that the ice had 
already begun to slack. On going to the mast-head, 
I found a prospect of some advancement. Imme- 
diately "the hands were turned up "to take advantage 
of the opportunity. The direction, however, on which 
our course lay, was surprisingly altered. On the 
preceding evening, the nearest direction to the sea 
was towards the S.S.E. or S.E.; but, during the 
night, it had unaccountably changed to the S.W. 
This direction being still nearly " head to wind," we 
warped imder great disadvantages ; as every piece of 
ice to which we fastened was necessarily more or less 
drawn down upon us. The work, therefore, was one 
of immense difficulty, eliciting a very anxious, though 
exciting, condition of mind. It was necessary to keep 
a perpetual watch on the different pieces of ice by 



102 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

which we warped forward — to calculate beforehand 
the relative impression of the ship's re-action, so as 
to avoid the blocking-up of our way — to fasten to 
such pieces, and to such angles or sides of the pieces, 
as should the least incommode us, and the most 
effectually advance us — to compensate the occasional 
oblique direction of the wind by ropes, counter- 
actingly placed, so as to preserve the parallelism of 
the ship's position, with the line of her required 
movements — and to anticipate every motion, whether 
on our part or that of the ice, by having ropes in 
advance, and on the bows, to check the ship^s return, 
or to control the direction of her head. Such were 
the primary considerations required to be constantly 
kept in view, — producing, in the whole, such a mul- 
titude of varying forces, and correlativeness of action, 
as required the utmost intensity of thought practically 
to anticipate. And almost every piece of ice that we 
encountered required this effort of mind, with a cor- 
responding promptness and variety of exertion, though 
the quantity of pieces, which we thus passed in the 
morning, amounted, probably, to not less than a 
hundred. Our astonishing success, however, in this 
difficult progress, was strikingly impressive on my 
own mind, of the special blessing of God. For amid 
such a multitude of difficulties, and such an incal- 
culable variety of influences and results, the constant 
assistance of a gracious Providence, ^ preventing us 
in all our doings and furthering us with continual 
help,' could alone have enabled us to accomplish 



PROVIDENTIAL TESTIMONIES. 103 

every movement we attempted^ and to advance, in 
the very face of the wind, with a celerity and success 
beyond our most sanguine hopes. 

For the first seven hours after starting, our efforts 
were unremitting. It was then eleven o^ clock, the 
usual time of our Sabbath morning prayers. The 
intense anxiety attendant on our present situation, 
advanced as we now were to within a mile of the 
sea, almost tempted us to press forward to the utmost 
attainable point; though, from the seaward direction 
of the wind, escape, under existing circumstances, 
was very doubtful, if at all practicable. Happily we 
were enabled to resolve on suspending our labours, 
in order to seek that devotional communion with Him 
'by whom we live, and move, and have our being,' 
to which, on all previous Sabbaths from the beginning 
of our voyage, we had been in the habit of attending. 
And most seasonably it happened, just as the deter- 
mination was taken, that a mass of ice of extraordinary 
heaviness compared with the general description of 
that now around us — for we had for some time been 
beyond the massive fragments of the shattered floe — 
was discovered within reach of a whale-line to wind- 
ward. To this we speedily got a rope attached, 
warped the ship into contact with it, and then, in the 
hope of not being materially driven back, we rested 
for our contemplated devotional service. 

Our arrangements being thus completed, the chief 
officer was left alone upon deck '• to look out," whilst 
myself, and all the rest of the crew — fifty in number 



104 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

— retired into the ^tween decks. A solemn and 
chastened feeling was prevalent throughout the little 
congregation, — the excitement, which had hitherto 
prevailed, being interestingly modified by the cus- 
tomary sympathies, and soothing influence, of the 
pious formularies of our Church. In my own mind, 
there was a feeling of animated confidence, that we 
should not, eventually, sufiPer loss by the present 
cessation from labour; but little did I contemplate 
the result; a result which—whatever might be the 
variety of views adopted by different individuals as 
an explanation of the phenomenon — called forth 
unanimous exclamations of astonishment from the 
whole of the ship's company. The wind, it should 
be remembered, when we retired to prayers, was 
still directly against us, and the ice betwixt us and 
the sea closely compacted together. But now, after 
the brief interval in which we had been engaged in 
our humble endeavours to " worship the Lord our 
Maker," the condition of the ice, and the somewhat 
discouraging prospect as to an immediate escape, had 
entirely changed. The sea was actually nearer to us, 
by some hundreds of yards, than it was when we 
proceeded to prayers ; ^ for the intervening ice,' 
according to the statement of the officer of the watch, 
' had been moving past us, during the wdiole of the 
interval we spent below, as fast as, by the utmost 
exertions of all hands in warping, we could have 
expected to advance ! ' This astonishing and un- 
looked-for advantage, no doubt, was gained, by the 



PROVIDENTIAL TESTIMONIES, 105 

simple operation of natural causes^ through the 
greater action of the wind upon the generally thin 
ice aroTind us, than upon the deeply immersed mass 
to which the ship was moored. But this was not all 
the advantage. The wind which, previously, had 
been our greatest hinderance, now shifted to the 
west, a somewhat more favourable quarter; the ice, 
which between us and the sea had been closely 
pressed together without a single opening in any 
direction, was now found to have slacked ; and, what 
was still more remarkable, a vein or channel of water, 
the only one in sight, (affording an oblique navigation, 
the most favourable for the present direction of the 
wind,) commenced at the very stern of the ship, and 
extended, with but trifling obstructions, through all 
the intervening ice, to the very verge of the ope7i sea ! 
The concurrence of all these circumstances, so favour- 
able to an escape from our perilous entanglement, 
within the hour of our devotional rest, was so striking, 
that I believe every one on board made the inference, 
that a special blessing from heaven had attended the 
duty in which we had been engaged. 

A powerful and animated effort required yet to be 
made. All hands flew to their different posts, and 
five of our boats were manned, and in the water, in a 
moment. Four of these were employed to assist the 
action of the now gentle breeze, by the operation of 
tovjing, whilst the fifth was sent in advance, on a 
pioneering duty, to remove any occasional obstruc- 
tions, as well as to improve the passage, in the more 

F 2 



106 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

embarrassing parts of the cliannel, lest the ship, 
falling to leeward by the loss of her head-way, 
should again become inextricably involved. The 
sails were now set, and the ship was got under way, 
when every man, having a heartfelt interest in the 
duty assigned him, performed his part to admiration. 
The pioneering-boat darted, with surprising celerity, 
through the water, fixed itself upon the opposing 
ices with such a mighty energy, that the pieces, as if 
endued with animation, and influenced by terror, flew 
right and left from the line of our advance; whilst 
the other boats at the " tow-rope," performed, at 
once, the most Herculean and dexterous eflbrts, 
drawing with amazing power, and obeying every 
command, and adjusting themselves to every required 
position, as if they were actuated by one living 
principle, and that under a magical influence. All 
this, indeed, was so striking, that the scene, which 
I now describe at the distance, in time, of six and 
twenty years, seems pictured in living reality before 
me. 

Our eflbrts, as will readily be anticipated, were 
crowned with complete success. We reached the 
open sea about three p.m. when a cri de joie burst 
from the delighted crew, and rung upon the air with 
aflecting earnestness, indicative, not of a heathenish 
joy, but of a grateful, heartfelt, solemn, and even 
sanctified exultation. The nature and propriety of 
the inward feeling of some amongst them, at least, 
were distinctly evinced, when, out of the fulness of 



PROVIDENTIAL TESTIMONIES. 



107 



the heart, these exclamations burst from several lips 
— « Thank God ! " " God be praised ! " 

In this lengthened narrative, I may, perhaps, have 
outrun my purpose ; and, I fear, may have submerged 
the impression originally designed to be conveyed, 
by the too extended view of an adventure, which, 
on myself and crew was so striking and impressive. 
For the recollections of this adventure have, almost 
unconsciously, carried me away so far from my im- 
mediate object, that I may be reasonably appre- 
hensive, whether the interest of the details to myself 
may compensate for the violation of unity, and want 
of limitation of circumstances with others. At all 
events, though the point at which, in the outset, I 
aimed, should not be established to the satisfaction 
of every reader, the generality, I trust, will so far 
sympathise with the feelings, and follow the con- 
victions of the writer, as to discern in this narrative, 
various and striking manifestations of a particular 
Providence. "VYith the hope of facilitating the attain- 
ment of this desirable and profitable result, I shall 
conclude this narrative wdth some reflections, ex- 
tracted from my log-book, which afford a general 
outline of my personal convictions, at the time of the 
adventure, of the peculiar manifestations of " the 
finger of God." 

To this effect are the reflections which I find 
recorded. — ^ I consider this deliverance from a state 
of anxious peril, as eliciting one of the most striking 



108 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

examples of the blessing of God, in a chain of pro- 
vidential circumstances, that, in the whole course 
of an adventurous life, I ever remember to have 
witnessed. When, on Wednesday morning last, 
(20th of August,) by pressing our course to the 
S.S.W., we got entangled among the drift ice on 
the breaking-up of the iloes, we seemed, at the time, 
to have committed a serious error, and to have gone 
entirely wrong, — though in this instance, in a most 
particular manner, I had 'committed my way unto 
the Lord ' with the belief that ^ he would direct my 
steps. ^ When I arose on Thursday morning, at break 
of day, I was induced by an instantaneous decision, 
(after indeed having anxiously supplicated the Divine 
assistance) to run to the S.S.W., to the extremity of 
a bight, in which the ice was very heavy, and in the 
act of closing, where we were at once firmly beset in 
a perilous situation. Now, had we remained, in this 
case, till my ordinary hour of rising, we should not 
have reached the point to which we attained within 
six or eight miles, and, therefore, must inevitably 
have been beset at the distance of ten or twelve 
miles from the sea, instead of four or five i In these, 
and in the succeeding events, there was a striking 
chain of providences, manifested, to my apprehension 
at least, in the following as well as other particulars: — 
In directing our course out of the ice at the precise 
time, and in the particular way, by which we came ; — 
in urging us to push into the then closiitg sea-stream, 
which was immediately consolidated with the ice in 



PROVIDENTIAL TESTIMONIES. 



109 



the rear, into an impermeable ^ac^;* — in blessing 
and timing our exertions when warping and forcing 
through the ice, as also in directing the manner and 
course of our various efforts ; — and, finally, in such a 
gracious superintendence of the whole adventure as 
to bring us to the sea edge (the place of greatest 
peril) at a time when the weather, instead of being 
dangerously tempestuous, as at this season it most 
usually is, w^as fine, the sea smooth, the ice slack, 
and the wind veering to a favourable quarter. 

The greatest danger, as I have intimated, to which 
a ship is exposed on its escape from besetment by 
the ice, is, just as it approaches the sea. For if, 
when advanced to the margin, so as to be deprived 
of the usual shelter afforded by the ice against the 
penetration of the waves, a gale, from an unprotected 
quarter, should then come on, it must bring such a 
tremendous sea upon the ice, that the ship would 
be exposed to utter destruction from its frightful and 
violent action. And, had this been the case in the 
present instance, to which, from the prevalence of 
such gales in the autumn, we were particularly ex- 
posed, our ship must have been placed in the utmost 
jeopardy, and its loss must, in all human probability, 
have been fatal to our lives, both from the now in- 
creasing severity and tempestuousness of the weather, 

* Pack. — The name given to a body of drift-ice, — that is of ice in 
smaller-sized masses, — of such magnitude, that its extent is not dis- 
cernible. A pack is said to be open, when the pieces of ice, though 
very near each other, do not generally touch; or close (as in the present 
case) when the pieces are in complete contact. 



110 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

and from the daily diminishing chance of a rescue by 
any fellow-adventurer. 

In conclusion of this record of Arctic adventure, 
and of experience of the Divine goodness, I may just 
add, that the whole of the circumstances, when con- 
sidered in combination, produce, as to my own mind 
it convincingly seems, such a body of coincidences 
so manifestly providential, that it would be at once 
heathenish and unphilosophical to call them for- 
tuitous ; a chain of coincidences, indeed, which, if 
required to be produced on mere principles of chance, 
would have left us without hope of escape. But, it 
is written of Inspiration, that " that they that go 
down to the sea in ships, that do business in great 
waters; these see the works of the Lord, and his 
wonders in the deep : . . . they cry unto the Lord 
in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their 
distresses .... Oh that men would praise the Lord 
for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the 
children of men ! " 



Ill 



Chapter TV. 

SUPPLEMENTARY AND COGNATE TESTIMONIES. 



In strict conformity with our general title — Sabbaths 
in the Arctic Eegions — the preceding records com- 
plete the testimonies of this class which we have 
herein to adduce. But having illustrated so exten- 
sively the eflfects of a conscientious regard to the 
Sabbatical appointment entirely under circumstances 
of personal knoidedge and experience; it has appeared 
to me that the leading object in view might possibly 
be aided by deviating somewhat, in a supplementary 
Chapter, from the generally prescribed course, so as 
to afford our argument the advantage of independent 
evidence from some extraneous illustrative facts. x\nd 
such contemplated advantage, I am led to hope and 
believe, may be yielded by the interesting cognate 
testimonies which I now take occasion to adduce. 

Section I. — Cognate Testimony of Mr. TV , a?i 

American, to a Messing on Sahhath Ohsei^vance. 

The first of the testimonies to which I refer, was 
derived from a communication, incidentally received, 
whilst on a tour in the United States of America and 
Canada, in the summer of 1844. 



112 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

Having descended tlie Ohio to its confluence with 
the Mississippi, I proceeded northward by this vast 
river and its tributary the lUinois, by steamers, and 
from Ottawa, where we landed, by coach across the 
prairies of the State of Illinois to Chicago, — a place 
which had sprung up, as by fairy influence, from a 
barren wilderness to a large and prosperous city, 
in about a dozen years ! 

Accompanied by many travellers, migrating out 
of the prevalent summer malaria of New Orleans, 
and other similarly circumstanced regions, into the 
healthier climates of more Northern States,-^! em- 
barked, by steamer, at Chicago, on Saturday, July 
13th, for the circuit of the lakes Michigan, Huron, 
St. Clair and Erie to Buflalo — a distance estimated at 
1,0^8 miles. Our steamer, the Great Western, being 
adapted for a navigation exposed to storms and heavy 
seas, was by no means so lofty and palace-like as the 
passage-vessels employed on the principal rivers ; but, 
nevertheless, was one of those fine and accommodating 
vessels for which the United States, as a country, is 
so famous. The accommodation was such that about 
170 passengers, including many ladies, were, some- 
how or other, disposed of on board, besides others 
remaining exposed on deck. The gentlemen's saloon 
was of imposing spaciousness ; the ladies' saloon, 
though not large, being without the attachment of 
any sleeping berths, was ornately fitted up, and fur- 
nished with a viewly and not indiflerent piano-forte, 
which proved a pleasant acquisition during a four 



SUPPLEMENTARY TESTIMONIES. 



113 



days' voyage to those gentlemen who were privileged 
to enter within the somewhat exclusive precincts.—- 
But I must proceed to my story : — 

On the morning after our embarkation, Sunday, 
perceiving no signs of any general attention being 
about to be given to the sacred day, — I applied to 
the Captain for his permission to have Divine Service 
performed for such of the passengers as might be 
disposed to unite therein. He readily acquiesced 
and directed me to the steward to clear a part of the 
great saloon, and, as the sailors would say, rig out 
the church." This being accomplished, some consi- 
derable portion of the passengers came forward, and 
though but few, I could perceive, v/ere familiar with 
the liturgy, united with their accustomed propriety 
and fixedness of attention, both during the prayers and 
whilst, subsequently, I addressed them in a sermon. 

These apparently extraneous particulars I have 
thought it well to mention, because they may serve 
to elucidate the exact character and position of the 
incident which they are designed to introduce. 

At the conclusion of the service, I retired, for 
greater quietness, to a sort of gangway, or side pro- 
jection of the deck beyond the sleeping berths, which^ 
at the time, happened to be quite deserted. A fellow- 
passenger, of gentlemanly appearance, — one who 
could be easily recognised as among those who had 
most devotionally engaged in the public service of 
the day, — in a short time came out on the " guards," 
and, with a manner at once respectful and courteous, 



114 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

addressed me in respect to our recent engagement in 
Divine worship ; — he then proceeded to speak on the 
pecuHar degree in which he had been personally- 
interested, and on the importance which, he conceived, 
belonged to the sacred observance of the Lord's day. 

The recognition, mutually, of similar views and 
feelings on the most solemn and important subjects 
which can engage the consideration of the rational 
mind ; and the perception, also, of corresponding 
experiences as to the reality of the grand principles 
of our holy faith, — led, naturally, into that sort of 
intercommunication which, should be a prevalent 
characteristic of the social and confiding influences of 
the Gospel. 

Our position and circumstances, at the time, had, 
perhaps, their influence on the disposition to confer 
on elevating topics, and speak with mutual confidence. 
The sky was brilliant in its sunlit splendour : neither 
cloud nor w^ind disturbed the calm serenity of the 
atmosphere : the lake, on which we were swiftly 
steaming, was pure in its depth of waters and smooth 
and resplendent as the polished mirror : we appeared 
to be in an interminable world of waters : the horizon 
all round was bounded by the complete circle of the 
lake, and exhibited no other visible object : neither 
land nor tree-tops (the first indication of land to be 
seen on the margins generally of these inland seas), 
nor ship nor other craft, was visible : our single 
steamer, as far as sight could inform us, comprised 
within itself the whole of human life : we were solitary 



SUPPLEMENTARY TESTIMONIES. 



115 



amid the expanse of waters. There was something 
solemnizing, soothing yet animating, in the peculiar 
scene. Those who had acute perceptions, received 
a refining stimulus in aid of natural feeling. 

Mr. W , who in the outset of our acquaintance 

had referred to his strong and impressive conviction 
of the importance of Sabbath observance — gave me, 
whilst we walked up and down the narrow platform 
overhanging the water, the following interesting testi- 
mony, as a fact derived from his personal experience. 

His first independent adventure in business — as I 

understood Mr. W to say — was at New Orleans, 

as "a merchant-taylor : " — for most of the clothing 
business, belonging to the gentleman's wardrobe, he 
mentioned, was carried on in that part of the country, 
by ready-made articles of dress. This mode, indeed, 
required a large stock and capital, for the supplying 
of the wealthier as well as other classes of the popu- 
lation — his own stock being ordinarily of the value 
of about 30,000 dollars — but then the original invest- 
ment was well compensated by the considerable sales, 
and the large profits which it was the custom there 
to include in the retail charges. 

When he commenced business, as a young man, — 
only a few years indeed before this time, — it was the 
prevalent practice with those engaged in similar 
undertakings, to attend to the requirements of their 
customers on the Sunday, as well as on other days. 

He, Mr. W , though differently instructed as a 

youth — being a member of a God-fearing family. 



116 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

resident in New England, where the general practice 
involves a high and commendable regard to the Sab- 
bath — was carried away by the fears of competition 
and the enticement of additional profits, into the nn- 
sanctified habits of those around him. His "store" 
was free to issue goods on the Sunday to whatever 
customers came and would then be supplied. 

But the existence within him of the seeds, at least, 
of true and influential religion, received, happily, 
direct attestation by the very yielding, in this first 
instance, to a baneful and ungodly practice. His 
conscience^ which had not been lulled to a quiet 
repose even by the specious arguments which had 
served to keep under his convictions, disturbed him 
so much, and, through the grace of the Spirit, which 
can alone overrule man's selfish tendencies and lust 
of aggrandisement, so affected his peace and satisfac- 
tion of mind, till, at length, he came to the deter- 
mination that, cost what it might, he must cease to 
trade on the Lord's-day. His assistants in the busi- 
ness were accordingly freed, and that without being 
mulct in wages, from their wonted Sunday attendance ; 
and the store remained closed during the whole of 
the sacred day. 

It was not long, however, before his faith and 
practice were put to a severe, and, happily, as he 
triumphed over the temptation, conclusive test. A 
gentleman, one of his best customers, of some position 
and wealth, following a learned profession in that large 
and opulent city, came to Mr. W 's house, one 



SrPPLEMEXTAEY TESTIMONIES, 



IIT 



Stinday mornings soon after his resolution had been 
taken^ and told him he wanted a considerable supply 
of clothing, and bein? to set out on a journey earlv in 
the week, ^* he must have the things immediately,^^ 

'•'I am sorry.'^ said Mr. W — that I can^t send 
you the things you wish for to-day ^ my store being 
closed, but you shall hare them as early as you please 
to-morrow."' 

*'Xot to-day?" was the quick response of the 
customer — "AYhy not to-day 

^•Because it is Sunday, and I have been led to 
consider that it is wrong to do one's worldly business 
on the Sunday : I have therefore given up doing 
business on this day." 

""W'rons^ ?" — said the visitor in evident astonish^ 
ment at the reason — " Why, sir, everybody else does 
business on the Sunday." Then, as if concluding in 
his mind that such a reason could not stand in the 
way of personal interest, he laughingly said, — "Come, 
come : never mind for this time : I want the things 
now, and you will send them." 

But Mr. W being most unexpectedly decided, 

and respectfully but firmly dechning to send the 
goods on that day, — the ^-isitor got angry and said, — 
" "Well, sii', if yoic wont let me have the things I shall 
go to some one that wilL You will be so good as 
send in my bill." 

Mr. W , anxious and grieved as he must neces- 
sarily be, acquiesced in the stern decision, retaining 
his calm self-possessed manner, whilst the other— 



118 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

to use the forcible Scripture expression respecting 
Naaman, — "went away in a rage !" 

To a young man, whose business-adventure in life 
had but recently begun to be remunerative, and to 
promise a progress which might ultimately yield 
something like what his ardent expectations, too 
fondly, perhaps, indulged, had hitherto failed in 
realizing, — this discouragement and rebuke to the 
carrying out of his religious convictions, could not 
but prove a severe trial. The more so as this gentle- 
man was one of the best and most profitable customers, 
who, for his personal requirements, came to Mr. 

W 's store. So liberal, indeed, was he in the 

variety and renewal of his wardrobe, that his annual 

bill from Mr. W was near five hundred dollars, 

or fully a hundred pounds in British currency. And 
as the ordinary profits, to which allusion has been 
made, were large — being somewhere about cent per 
cent — the clear gain he was, apparently , about to 
sacrifice, with one customer only, was not less than 
fifty pounds a year ! 

Keflecting, no doubt very anxiously, on this 
threatening incident, with its not improbable bearing 
in the case of other customers, he felt considerably 
depressed in his feelings ; but, as I understood him 
to say, he found no disposition to withdraw from the 
ground he had conscientiously and deliberately taken. 
But, by a providentially directed impression on his 
mind, as he afterwards well understood it to be, he 
determined to fulfil the injunction of his late customer 
without delay, and carry in the hill himself. 



SUPPLEMENTARY TESTIMONIES. 



119 



This he accordingly did, making out the account 
on Monday morning, and forthwith proceeding to 
deliver it. He found the gentleman at home ; and 
was shewTi into the office, where he was in the habit 
of attending to his professional business. 

The scene which followed was curious : I T^-ill 
endeavour to describe it according to the terms 
employed, and the impressions conveyed, in the 
relating of the interesting incident, to my own mind. 

As Mr. W entered within the door, with the 

document in his hand, he said : — 

"You desired me to make out your bill; — I have 
done so." 

C , (as I shall designate the customer,) hardly 

looking at the visitor, first responded by an indis- 
tinct kind of gruff ; but, as Mr. W advanced 

with the bill, held out his hand for it, and said — 
" How much is it?" 

W . " A hundred and — (I forget the exact 

amount) dollars, and — cents." 

C , without looking into the account writes a 

check, no word, meanwhile, being spoken, and hands 
it, still in silence, towards his creditor. 

W , a little sui'prised at the careless and in- 
different manner, remarks, — '^You have not looked 
at the bill ; you don't know whether the amount is 
right." 

C , carelessly, — "Oh, I've no doubt it's right 

enough,^' — adding, in words to the effect, — " A man 
that will do as you have done wouldn't make out a 



120 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS, 

wrong account." Then, after a pause, and looking 
for about tlie first time with a steady and scrutinizing 
gaze at his visitor, he proceeded, — " I say, Mr» 
W , you may send me the things ! " 

W relieved and surprised by this unexpected 

turn of the anxious business, was about expressing 
his thanks — that is, in the somewhat reserved way in 
which alone an American tradesman would think it 
right to acknowledge an obligation to a customer, 
whom he thinks, and, no doubt, justly thinks, as 
much obliged by the convenience and utility of the 
articles he procures, as the tradesman with the price, 
" — but he was interrupted. 

C — — . " You may send me the things, — because I 
know you will deal rightly with me ; — a man that will 
lose one of his best customers for his conscientious 
scruples, can't cheat me. I may go farther and fare 
worse," 

If there was a gratifying exhibition of a candid 
character in the retractation, on the part of this gentle- 
man, of his previous hasty and angry resolve ; there 
was a still finer exposition of right and manly feeling 
in his subsequent conduct. I will resume, to the 

best of my recollection, Mr. W 's own words : — 

" Not only," —he somewhat exultingly added to the 
foregoing descriptions, — did he continue his custom 
at my store, and that with increasing liberality, and 
friendliness of intercourse ; but he brought to me, 
personally, many new customers, recommended me 



SUPPLEMENTARY TESTIMOXIES. 121 

wherever he could, and has proved to me the best 
friend, as to my worldly business, I ever had in my 
life ! " " And that gentleman," he concluded by 
stating, "at the present time, occupies one of the 
most distinguished positions, professionally, in New 
Orleans ! " 

The experience of Mr. W , in the important 

and happy results of this incident, it will be observed, 
was precisely correspondent with my own as set forth 
in the previously recorded narratives. We both 
received the results of our personal self-denial for 
the due observance and honour of the Lord's-day, 
as accordant with the scripturally-assured blessings. 
If some who read the records should conclude other- 
wise, and ascribe the results we deem providential, to 
the common course of things as to cause and effect, — 
we would not deem the impression produced to be 
altogether lost. For cause and effect have their 
absolute relation, as such, to the laws established by 
the Creator on the earth and among the creatures of 
the earth; if, therefore, the fulfilment of prescribed 
duties, or a strict regard to self denying or mortify- 
ing restrictions, as a cause, do result in consequences, 
declared by Eevelation to be the Divinely-appointed 
effect, — we have an argument of much importance in 
favour of the plea we now are urging. The results, 
at least, in both views, serve to establish the common 
proposition — that " Godliness is profitable unto all 
things ; having promise of the life that now is, and 
of that which is to come ! " 

G 



122 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 



Section U.— Record of the D family, as Illus- 
trative of the special benefits of a Religious Life, 

The Testimony yielded by this record, concerning 
the D family, has only partial, though not un- 
important, relation to a blessing Providentially expe- 
rienced in the conscientious regard to the sanctity of 
the Sabbath. Mainly, the blessings realized by this 
interesting household, are to be considered as the 
results of a grand change in the feelings of the heart, 
and, by consequence, in the habits of the life ; from 
a condition of thoughtless impenitency, unto the state 
of heartfelt godliness. But still they were blessings 
derived from a source kindred to, and partly identical 
with, that to which the preceding records refer, and, 
consistently with the doctrine therein developed, 
yielded, at least, an encouraging illustration of the 
proposition with which our last section concluded, 
in regard to the general profitableness of godliness, 
both as to the present and a future life. 

The records of the foregoing chapters were derived 
from facts within the personal experience of the author, 
as a sailor and a whale-fisher ; that of the present 
section sprung out of his experience whilst engaged 
in the more momentous service of a fisher of men." 
In so far, indeed, it had relation to matters of the 
sea, that it pertained to his ministry among seamen, 
and to the Divine blessing on the preaching of the 



SUPPLEMENTARY TESTIMONIES. 123 

Gospel in a ship — appropriated and fitted up as a 
Mariners' Church. 

The influence of the ministry of the author in this 
and other instances, in which, by Divine grace, he 
was privileged, as an instrument, to be useful to his 
fellow-creatures, was a result out of the mass of occa- 
sional worshippers, whose cases he had naturally 
regarded less distinctively than those of the class for 
whom his ministrations were specially appointed. 
Such a result, however, in a side-direction, as it were, 
from his appointed cure, was not, as a matter of 
experience, extraordinary. For whilst the faithful 
minister of Christ has the scriptural assurance that the 
Word he declares shall not be void, he neither knows 
the direction in which it will prosper, nor has he 
power to guide it for any certain individual influence. 
" Paul may plant, and Apollos may water f but 
God, who gives the increase, determines both the 
measure of fruitfulness, and the direction of germina- 
tion. The faithful labourer in the harvest-fleld of 
the Gospel, is, indeed, apt to contemplate some por- 
tion of the field entrusted to his care with peculiar, 
if not extreme, interest ; to make it, as it were, his 
garden of flowers, watching it with more than ordi- 
nary solicitude, and dressing it with most diligent 
and anxious care. But this, perhaps, after all, may 
not be the portion of the field which proves most 
abundantly productive. None of the labour, indeed, 
is lost ; but the fruit looked for in one quarter is often 
found in another. For the Lord of the harvest 



124 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

sometimes disappoints his ardent desires and anxious 
expectations in the quarter in which his chief strength 
has been exerted ; whilst He causes fruit to appear 
in obscure corners which have received rather the 
incidental labour than the abundance of careful soli- 
citude. The seed properly, wisely sown, shall indeed 
bring forth fruit; but the labourer knoweth not, 
either as to the time of his sowing, or as to the direc- 
tion in which the seed is cast " whether shall prosper, 
— this or that." " Even so, O Father, Lord of heaven 
and earth, for so it hath seemed good in thy sight !" 

Whilst on the one hand, therefore, humiliating dis- 
appointments occur in quarters where the minister has 
most anxiously and ardently laboured ; so, on the 
other hand, cheering encouragements are not unfre- 
quently derived from the results in other places, 
though neither anxiety, nor peculiar attention, has 
been bestowed upon them. Here, perhaps, in a 
portion unexpected, the seed takes firm root, grows 
up, receives strength, and flourishes, — so that before 
he dares presume on any effective result from his 
labour, the little looked-to section of the field is found 
to be white for the harvest ! 

Such was the experience, in an encouraging variety 
of instances, of the writer of these Memorials, whilst 
engaged in an interesting chaplaincy in his early 
ministry. The majority of his congregation, at that 
time, was composed of those who go down to the sea 
in ships, and do business in great waters ; but the 
residue, with the exception of occasional hearers, was 



SUPPLEMENTARY TESTIMONIES. 125 

made up of a mixed multitude, gathered, as it were, 
from " the streets and lanes of the city" — " the high- 
ways and hedges." Now, whilst his chief attention, 
and more particular solicitude, were naturally directed 
to the seamen of the congregation, the efficacy of the 
ministrations upon them could but seldom be deter- 
mined, because of their transient stay in port, and 
their subsequent dispersion throughout the navigable 
globe. In due time, indeed, incidents of deep and 
gratifying interest were met with ; and cases of warm- 
hearted experience of the grace of God, which bringeth 
salvation, having appeared among the seafaring wor- 
shippers, became, at length, encouragingly known. 
But, meanwhile, when the success of the word among 
those for whom the minister might specially labour, 
had become but in small degree apparent, — the Lord 
of the harvest was graciously pleased to vouchsafe an 
animating measure of encouragement in the springing 
up of fruit, under the Gospel, in places unexpected, 
and in a soil previously dry and barren. The disco- 
very of such cheering effect in one family, among 
others, of the labouring poor, constitutes the subject 
matter of the present record. This interesting case 
was first introduced to the writer's knowledge in the 
following manner. 

About the middle of my fourth year's labours in the 
chaplaincy referred to, a person of the appearance 
and address of a respectable tradesman, called upon 
me, requesting a few minutes' conversation in respect 



126 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 



to his brother, T D ; who, though unknown 

to me personally, had for some time, he informed me, 
been a member of my congregation. There is a sort 
of "freemasonry" in the recognition of those who 
have received the Gospel of Christ Jesus in the love 
of it, which was strikingly evinced almost immediately 
on the entrance of this stranger. For scarcely was 
he seated before the signs of the member of Christ's 
mystical body ; of one practically experienced in the 
ways of religion, and deeply embued with a solemn 
perception of the value of the soul, were unequivocally 
manifested. With eyes glistening through the ope- 
ration of the grateful feelings of his heart, he magni- 
fied the grace and mercy of the Saviour of sinners, 
for the unspeakable benefit derived by his once erring, 
but now happy brother, from his attendance on the 
ministrations in the Mariners^ Church. Though the 
stranger, himself, held a respectable and remunerating 
situation as a tradesman in London, — his brother was 
in the humble station of a labourer, — a poor labourer. 
Poverty, indeed, had been his necessary portion, 
because of the irregular and ungodly life which he 
had lived, until, in the Providence of God, he was 
induced, through the recommendation of a fellow- 
labourer, who himself had been benefited by his 
attendance at the Mariners' Church, to direct his foot- 
steps thither. 

About twelve months previous to the visit now 
described, the heart of this aflfectionate and pious 
brother had been excited with astonishment and gra- 



SUPPLEMENTARY TESTIMONIES. 127 

titude to Almighty God, by the receipt of a letter, 
affording the cheering hope that the recently ungodly 

T D , had become ^ a new man in Christ 

Jesus !' " From this time/' said the stranger, " my 
brother became a changed character." * The effects 
were immediately manifested. Prayer was established 
in his family, and habits of irregularity and impiety 
gave place to the ]ovely transformation of order and 
sanctity. New sympathies, the manifest indications 
of the grace of God, were developed within him. 
Like Andrew, who sought out his brother Simon 
Peter, to tell him that they had found the Messias, 
the Christ, — he became solicitous to convey else- 
where the glad experiences of his own soul. For the 
opening of his eyes to his own real state had dis- 
covered to him the lost and fearful condition of his 
kindred around him. He saw that his aged mother 
was 'going down to the grave under the delusion of 
a self-righteous dependence, instead of taking hold 
of the righteousness and strength of Him who is the 
only refuge for perishing sinners. Making, there- 
fore, her spiritual welfare his anxious care, he exerted 
himself to get her into the assemblage of the public 
worshippers of God, that, peradventure, the means 
which had been effectual to the raising of him from 
the dead, might be blessed unto her. For the trial 
and strengthening of his faith the Lord permitted 
him to pass through the fire of persecution. He was 
scoffed at and ridiculed by his fellow-workmen and 
former companions in dissipation ; but the trial was 



128 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

satisfactory, as he bore their severest taunts with 
christian patience and forbearance, evincing, by a 
variety of circumstances, that the change in his heart 
was the effectual saving work of the Spirit of God !' 

On the Wednesday succeeding this interesting 
incident, at a weekly service designed more especially 
for the spiritual edification of those of my congre- 
gation who might be asking the way to Zion with 
their faces thitherward," — I recognised the pious 
stranger who had visited, me. He then made me 
acquainted with his now happy brother. His face 
was recognised as one commonly present among 
the congregation ; as one who, with a countenance 
in its general expression not prepossessing, had been 
hitherto but slightly noticed. Under the plain and 
homely garb, however, in which nature had clothed 
him, was found to be hidden the characteristics of 
piety and intelligence. The face, in this instance, if 
an index of the mind, was not an index, the pointing 
of which would be generally understood ; but, how- 
ever unpromising the outward man, the utterance of 
the lips plainly indicated ' a wise and understanding 
heart.' His wife, a pleasing and prepossessing person, 
was also present; to whom, as also other members 
of their family, the present record will forthwith 
extend. 

About two months after the circumstances just 

related, it was intimated to me that a son of D 

was fast declining in health, and desirous of seeing 



SUPPLEMENTARY TESTIMONIES. 129 

me. Whilst, in fulfilment of the request, I was look- 
ing for their residence, in a long uniform street — 
where the eye of a stranger had little to guide him 
but the imperfectly distinguishable numbers on the 
houses, — Mrs. D observed me, and with a coun- 
tenance beaming with pleasurable satisfaction came 
out to welcome me. It was a very humble, and 
indeed wretched-looking dwelling, — one of those con- 
fined and typhoidal nurseries of disease, a cellar, — 
which happily the sanatory movement of recent date 
has, I believe, done much towards eradicating. 

Accustomed generally to find, in situations of this 
description, a habitation gloomy, damp, and totally 
inaccordant with neatness, — I was greatly surprised 
with the successful efibrts which had been made for 
rendering a place, so unpromising, comfortable. The 
floor was newly washed — the chairs and tables clean ^ 
and orderly — the bed unusually neat in its arrange- 
ments. The little chimney-piece was covered with 
articles suited for the tea-table, disposed of in the 
nicest order ; whilst a shelf, in a recess, on the side 
of the chimney, exhibited some little specimens of 
china, with the better apparatus of the little establish- 
ment. 

By the side of the fireplace — which, with its clean 
hearthstone and bright burning fire, was in keeping 
with the rest of the well-ordered dwelling, — sat a 
wan and sickly-looking boy, whom I recognised as a 
frequent attendant on my public ministrations, — 
whose state of health, it was, which was the im- 



130 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

mediate occasion of my present visit. He was a 
youth of, apparently, about sixteen years of age 
(though afterwards I found he was a year or two 
older) ; who, with pale and emaciated features, ex- 
hibited an expression of countenance so placid and 
intelligent as to excite at once an interested attention 
and unusual sympathy. 

Having seated myself beside the youthful sufferer, 
I asked him what his thoughts were of his present 
disease, and future prospects? His answer — which 
was remarkable, as well for the distinctness of his 
enunciation as for the correctness and superiorty of 
his style and language- — was to this effect : — " I see, 
sir,'' said he, that an eternal world is before me ; 
but I trust that I have a witness within, testifying 
that my hope is good ; for my trust and reliance are 
entirely founded on the merits and righteousness of 
Jesus Christ my Lord, through whom I look for 
acceptance with my heavenly Father." 

Surprised and delighted by the language and 
manner of his answer, I could not help replying, 
under a strong impulse of feeling, — "it is a good 
hope and sure ; and with such a hope it will be of 
little importance whether your poor, feeble body be 
now removed from this world of pain and sorrow, or 
suffered to remain, for a while, a pilgrim on the 
earth." 

"But what," I asked, ''gave you your present 
serious thought about the concerns of your soul and 
an eternal world?" 



SUPPLEMENTARY TESTIMONIES. 131 

" The Holy Spirit/' he replied, " gave it me." 

" But how ? for he generally works by means ?" 

He proceeded, in reply to my enquiry, to relate to 
me, in very descriptive detail, how the preaching of 
the Gospel in the Mariners' Church, had become 
"the power of God unto his salvation." In his 
attendance at an excellent Sunday School attached to 
an Independent Chapel, much of his knowledge of 
sacred things, he said, had been acquired; but it 
was the sermons he had recently heard which had 
convinced him of sin. 

" I heard many things there," he said, speaking of 
the Mariners' Church, " which condemned me. One 
sermon, in particular, made me very anxious and 
unhappy. I said to myself, if what that minister says 
about religion he true, then I must he wrong ! " 

The residue of this interview was, in like manner, 
satisfactory. The interesting invalid spoke, discern- 
ingly and experimentally, on his fears and conflicts — 
his doubts and temptations. When I proposed to 
pray with him, he said with animated earnestness 
and emphasis, — " 0 yes ! sir, and pray that I may 
have true peace." 

Passing over the circumstances of a subsequent 
visit — which was likewise full of interest — I proceed 
to give a few particulars of my last interview with 
this interesting youth. 

A journey, which I had had occasion to take into 
Yorkshire, had interrupted my intercourse with 
Edward. In the meantime his disease, which was 

G 2 



IS2 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

confirmed consumption, had made rapid advances on 
the powers of life. A note which was put into my 
hands, as I was about proceeding to the reading-desk 
of the Mariners' Church, immediately after my return 
home, intimated the circumstance — in a request for 
'the prayers of the congregation for the dying youth.' 

The arduous duties of my position, on the Sunday, 
rarely enabled me to undertake more on that day 
than the public services in the church. But anxious 
to see this interesting invalid, I made an effort to 
visit him betwixt the services. I bless God, to this 
day, that I did so ! I found him sitting up in his usual 
place ; but though greatly emaciated and enfeebled, 
his mind was clear, and voice distinct, even in its 
weakness, and his utterance emphatic as formerly. 

His reply to my introductory question, as I entered 
the little apartment, was striking and impressive 
beyond anything similar that ever I remember to 
have witnessed. 

" Well, Edward," said I, " how do you feel your- 
self?" 

" I feel," he promptly replied, with a deeply 
solemn and affecting enunciation, — " I feel that the 
earthly house of this tabernacle is fast dissolving; 
but" — continuing with a species of emphasis and 
elevation of soul of the nature of the sublime — " I 
thank God that I have a house not made with hands 
eternal in the heavens ! " 

After I was seated, and the agitation from my 
unexpected visit had a little subsided, I asked him 



SUPPLEMENTARY TESTIMONIES^ 133 

concerning certain feelings by which he had been 
distressingly exercised when I before visited him. 

"I am more comfortable/' he replied, "than I 
have been. But I have been much tried since I 
saw you last. Clouds and darkness hanging over 
me, greatly distressed me." 

''It is a happy circumstance/' I remarked, "that 
our safety does not depend upon the mere comfort 
we experience, but on our faith and union with 
Christ," — repeating the text on which I had just 
been preaching, — " He that believeth and is baptized," 
as our Lord has said, shall be saved." 

" You know," I continued, " what is included in 
this effective and profitable baptism 

He answered discerningly, — " It is the baptism of 
the heart by the Holy Ghost." 

Questioning him respecting his present declining 
condition, and about what might be the chief or lead- 
ing desire of his heart, he consistently said, — 

" That Christ may be formed in my heart the hope 
of glory !" 

" I know," he added, — according to the manner 
in which, under the evident feeling of deep humility, 
he was in the habit of expressing himself, — " I know 
there is nothing good in me : there is no merit in me : 
my hope is in the merits of Christ alone." 

" This," I replied, " is a safe anchor — an anchor of 
the soul both sure and stedfast — and happy is the 
dying soul that lays fast hold of it.'^ 

The father of the youth, who was present at this 



184 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

sweet and profitable interview, now told me, that 
Edward was anxious, if I would allow it, to receive 
the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, he had 
never yet been a recipient of this sacred and comfort- 
ing ordinance, he was fearful that I might not think 
it right for one so young to receive it. But, where 
there was so clear a perception of the nature and 
intentions of this sacramental rite, and so evident a 
fitness for a profitable reception of it, — I could not 
but accede, with heartfelt satisfaction, to a request, 
which, under the circumstances, indeed, I ought 
myself to have anticipated. In the prayer which 
concluded my visit, my attention was irresistibly 
drawn towards the principal object of it, by the sort 
of response which he gave to the several petitions 
more particularly directed to his condition, in a soft, 
yet expressive utterance of Amen, — amen !" 

I had anticipated a sweet occasion of christian com- 
munion with Edward and his family, and a pious 
friend or two from among their fellow-worshippers at 
the Mariners' Church; but the day which next dawned 
with cheerful beams upon the writer of this memorial, 
fell on the unimpressible eyelids of the object of his 
sympathy and spiritual concern, fast sealed in that 
long sleep which must await the sounding of the 
heavenly trumpet for the awakening of the pious 
dead ! 

He had sat up most of the day ; but becoming lan- 
guid and poorly towards evening, requested to be laid 
on his bed. He grew rapidly worse. Signs of 



SUPPLEMENTARY TESTIMONIES. 135 

approaching dissolution became apparent. He felt 
he was dying. " I am very weak," he said, the 
Lord give me patience." His father remembering 
his previous despondency, asked whether the cloud 
had passed away? His countenance beamed with 
a sweet and elevated expression, as he replied — 
happy, quite happy /" Soon afterwards, whilst the 
world at large unconsciously slept, the last feeble 
spark of life flickered, as the final gleam of the 
dying taper, and the heaven-tending soul of the 
enviable Edward, filled with hope and consolation, 
departed, to be with J esus ! 

The interment of the unconscious body of the pious 
youth, proved an occasion of deep and solemn inte- 
rest, and I think of profit, to many. Some little time 
before this event, I had been animadverting, in one 
of my week-evening addresses, on the unseemly prac- 
tice of feasting at funerals, and of the empty and 
wasteful pomp so prevalently attached to these solem- 
nities ; — the former habit desecrating the house of 
mourning by incongruous festivity, and the latter 
inducing a foolish expense, which too often left the 
family of the bereaved poor under circumstances of 
deeper poverty, and, sometimes, of overwhelming 
embarrassment. 

On occasion of the funeral, I found the humble 
dwelling of the sorrowing bereaved filled with sympa- 
thizing and pious friends. It was truly the house of 
sanctified mourning. Every thing was neatly ordered, 
simple and consistent. There was no hypocrisy of 



136 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

woe, nor incongruous indifference. There was no 
ostentatious parade of disregard of expense, yet the 
bereaved ones wore the respectable habiliments of 
mourning. There was no unseemly levity ; no bane- 
fully exciting drink. 

To myself the manner of the funeral was addi- 
tionally satisfactory, from the exclusion of. this latter 
element so usual at the burial preparations of the poor. 
And this, as was announced to me, I found was done 
on principle, and because of my previous appeal to 
their consciences and judgment. Coming up to me, 
with a somewhat anxious and subdued manner, one 
of the friends of the family, whispering, said, " Please, 
sir, will you tell them, that you said we should have 
no drinking at funerals, and there is not any.^' Satis- 
fied, as I was, of the integrity of their motives, — I 
thanked them from my very heart, before the much 
interested assemblage, for the moral courage they 
had evinced in thus venturing, on the appeal of their 
minister, to resist the baneful custom so universally 
prevalent. 

Many of the visitors at this solemnity, I may safely 
attest, enjoyed, as a special spiritual privilege, this 
unwonted style of funeral; for the observation was 
oft repeated in my hearing, that this was the most 
satisfactory and interesting occasion of the kind they 
had ever before attended. 

A large proportion of the notes I had made in 
respect to this interesting youth, on the assemblage 



SUPPLEMENTARY TESTIMONIES. 



137 



just spoken of, and on occasion of the faneral sermon, 
I regret to have to omit, having already dwelt at 
more extent upon his particular case, than may seem 
consistent, perhaps, with the particular object of this 
series of Memorials. One observation, however, in 
explanation of the rapid maturing of the tuork of 

grace in the heart of E. D , seems too important 

to be excluded. How, under the not miraculous 
work of the Spirit, one of very moderate education 
and a mere boy in years, should have suddenly evinced 
the most striking characteristics, both as to knowledge 
and experience, of the man in Christ Jesus, — mights 
without regard to circumstances, appear most extra- 
ordinary? But we have a simple and sufficient 
explanation in the fact of his previous acquisition, in 
an excellent Sunday-school, of a sound knowledge^ 
by the understanding, of the great principles of our 
holy faith. The seed formerly sown had, to appear- 
ance, been sown in vain ; but it had only laid dormant 
for a season. When, by the Holy Spirit, his conscience 
became stirringly impressed, the life-giving energy 
extended to the dormant seed. When the Word of 
Christ, under the preaching of the Gospel, became 
"spirit and life," the previously hidden word of 
sacred teaching, partook of a sympathetic influence, 
and was developed in rapid exhibitions of wisdom and 
experience ! I note this for the encouragement of 
persons engaged in the excellent and hopeful work 
of christian teaching. Let the readers of this, who 
may be so engaged, take the encouragement this 



138 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

narrative fairly yields, — so as not to account tlie 
labour of their sowing as lost, because life does not 
soon appear : it may be only dormant. When God's 
time comes, their labour will fully appear. And it 
may then prove that what they mourned over, sup- 
posing it lost, was in faithful keeping, so as when 
brought out, at the time correctly estimated by 
infinite wisdom, to obtain the best, fullest, and most 
glorious development ! 

But the more special relation in which the history 

of the D family stands with the testimonies 

previously adduced,— indicative of providential bless- 
ings being connected with a sanctified regard to the 
Christian Sabbath, — -remains yet to be set forth. 

The case of Mrs. D , with that of her husband 

involved therein, as gathered from personal conver- 
sations, and from information incidentally acquired — 
which are now condensed from a more elaborate 
record made at the period when the recollections 
were fresh and vivid — will be found, I think, to have 
a fair and legitimate bearing upon the particular 
doctrine herein asserted, as well as on the general 
results which we have so variously illustrated. 

It was during my attendance upon the sick Edward, 
that I first ascertained the fact and manner of his 
mother's spiritual awakening. Having, on my very 
first visit to the house, been much struck with a 
pious remark of hers, in reference to an inquiry I 
incidentally made, — I proceeded to ask her, "how 



SUPPLEMENTARY TESTIMONIES. 139 

she was led to think so seriously about the concerns 
of her soul?" "Hearing you, sir/' was her brief 
and unexpected reply. Naturally interested by 
sueh an intimation, I desired her to give me some 
particulars as to her religious history. "With a 
characteristic humility, and beautiful simplicity of 
manner and expression, she then described to me the 
process by which, through Divine Grace, she had 
been brought out of nature^s darkness into God's 
marvellous light. Her communication was to this 
effect : — 

Isaac S , once a wild and thoughtless young 

man, having been providentially led to the Mariners' 
Church, where his mind became deeply impressed 
with the solemn importance of Divine things, — 
earnestly pressed her husband, who was his fellow- 
workman, to accompany him to the place in which 
he had found so much blessing. He complied with 
the invitation, when, through the gracious application 
of the Gospel by the power of the Holy Spirit, 

Thomas D also, became seriously impressed. 

During the two or three Sundays following he came 
again, voluntarily; but his wife, as usual, kept the 
house, prepared the dinner or other meals of the 
family, and attended to the sale of a few of the com- 
mon fruits of the season, or small confectionaries, 
which she exhibited in a basket at the door, — " not 
knowing," as she said, " that there was any harm in 
it," nor considering what an " evil thing it is to pro- 
fane the Sabbath-day." The increasing earnestness of 



140 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

Thomas, however, in respect to the things belonging 
to his everlasting peace, soon produced a change in 
their usual arrangements for the Sunday ; and he 
requested his wife to accompany him to the place 
^ where prayer was wont to be made.' 

The circumstances of her first attendance amongst 
us were not a little remarkable. The subject of 
discourse was, — " Remember the Sabbath-day to keep 
it holy." And it so happened, by the good provi- 
dence of God, that, on this occasion, also, " the net 
was cast on the right side of the ship," and Mary 
D was not permitted to escape without ex- 

periencing something of its gracious entanglements. 
Speaking of the efiect of what she had heard on 
her own conscience, she remarked, that it greatly con- 
demned her, especially when I was discoursing on the 
prevalent Sabbath desecration among her particular 
class. I had strongly deprecated, in connection with 
a variety of other things, the very practice of which 
she was guilty — that of the ofiFering of fruits and 
confectionaries for sale at the doors of the cellars of 
the poor ! 

The impression of this one element of the discourse, 
which, as "by an arrow shot at a venture," seemed 
to have smitten the conscience of both husband and 
wife, was singularly striking and influential. Th^ 
spoke of it together as they walked home. They 
recalled the words of the preacher, — not as mere 
matter of interest, or as adapted to the prevailing 
habits of those around them, but for self- application. 



SUPPLEMENTARY TESTIMONIES. 



141 



The result vras as beautiful, practically^ as it was 
conclusive in its dealings with an evil habit. 

Arrived at the descent into their humble habitation, 
the fruit-basket, which had been left, I believe, in 
charge of a child, was observed standing at the door. 

D , by a silent and expressive gesture, called the 

attention of his wife to the now rebuking basket; 
then pointing to it with his finger, he gravely said, — 
"Mary / that wont do; v:e cannot serve God and 
the devil! The admonition was sufficient. Mary 
took up the basket and withdrew it from the door ; 
and from that day forward was there no setting forth 
of fruits or wares, by this interesting family, for the 
seeking, after the like manner, of unhallowed gains. 

Being asked, in respect to this apparent abstraction 
of their limited earnings, whether they found them- 
selves worse off in the world because of the sacrifice 
they had made, — Mary, with the greatest decision of 
manner, replied, — " Oh, no, sir ! we were never so 
well off in our lives as we are now." The profits 
formerly derived from the Sunday sales, she remarked, 
were indeed much more considerable than that of 
any other day of the week ; but she had received 
ample compensation from other sources \ — she was 
better off as to her household requirements, and in 
everything else ; her husband, formerly improvident 
and wasteful, now brought home his earnings to 
make his family comfortable ! 

The influence of these gracious principles of the 
Gospel, soon became manifest, as is wont, in the lives 



142 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

of the happy recipients. Family prayers, as before 
intimated, were early established, as part of the 

system and order of the house. Though D 's 

occupation called him out at an early hour in the 
morning — ordinarily, when day-light served, at six 
o'clock — -yet he previously found time for family 
devotion. Soon after five in the morning, he united 
with his wife, and such of the elder children as might 
be at home, in seeking at the family altar, the Divine 
blessing upon himself and them ; — and afterwards, as 
Mary informed me when making inquiries on this 
particular topic, she herself presented the younger 
ones before the Lord in prayers, simply explaining 
this deviation by saying; — '^for you know, sir, we 
cannot take the little children out of bed so soon in 
the morning." In the evening, too, when the whole 
family could conveniently unite, the Word of God 
was read, and prayers offered up before the Throne of 
Grace, — where, but in times recently past, all were 
living either in absolute ungodliness, or in utter un- 
concern about the state and salvation of their souls. 
But the whole domestic system, and the arrangements 
for public devotions, became assimilated, in christian 
consistency, with the principles newly received. The 
Sabbath was at once their day of rest from worldly 
labour, their delight, and their special time for seeking 
the advancement of their souls' best interests. And 
for this latter end, the assemblage for week-day 
services, with any other gathering which for the 
edification of my congregation I might happen to 



SUPPLEME>-TAIIY TESTIMONIES, 



143 



appoint, — was most unfailinglT found to include T. 

D , and liis wife, Mary ! 

The result, in relation to a leading doctrine herein 
sought to be elucidated, remains to be told. A year 

or two after my first visit to the D family in their 

humiliating and unhealthful abode, I was led to pay 
my last visit to them, as a family, on my appointment 
to a new sphere of clerical labour in the city of Exeter. 
They had for some Httle time been occupying a 
vastly improved description of residence, which, how- 
ever, I had not happened previously to visit. I found 
them in a quiet, airy, and respectable-looking court, 
being proximate to one of the principal lines of 
residences then existing in the town. The door of 
the house was opened for my admission by Mary, 
who welcomed me with a countenance beaming with 
grateful happiness. I was greatly struck by the 
place and what I saw around me. The house, neatly 
and newly built, comprised altogether three floors, 
and was all under their own tenantry. The parlour, 
into which I was sh&wn, was carpetted, and verv 
neatly furnished. Everything needful to comfort 
seemed to be there. Mv own feelings were touched 
by the great contrast of the place from that in which 
I had first seen them, and by the happy change, so 
emphatically indicated, in their temporal condition 
and sources of happiness. Laying mv hand kindly on 
the shoulder of the happy occupant before me — who 
seemed to realize, in no inconsiderable measure, the 
grateful enjoyment of the surrounding blessings which 



144 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

had excited my pleasurable surprise — I remarked : — 
"Well, Mary; you now feel something of God's 
truth ; it is true that ^ Godliness is profitable unto 
all things, having promise of the life that now is, and 
of that which is to come.' " She was much moved ; 
and with a burst of tears, indicative of unutterable 
feelings, she could only say, — ^'indeed it is, sir.^'' 



145 



Chapter V. 

GENERAL RESULTS OF THE TESTIMONIES OF NATURE 
AND PROVIDENCE TO THE SABBATH, WITH A 
PLEA FOR ITS OBSERVANCE. 



The preceding records of observation and experi- 
ence are such, I trust, as may serve for the convincing 
of the candid and inquiring mind, that witness, both 
in Nature and Providence, is incessantly being given 
to the Divine institution and perpetuity of obligation 
of the Sabbath. And if this proposition be established, 
then doth it follow, as an unquestionable corollary, 
that there is an intimate, and, indeed, inseparable 
connection betwixt a conscientious and sanctified 
dedication of a seventh-part of our time unto God, 
and our temporal well-being and happiness. Hence, 
although religious persons are by no means exempt, 
either from the trials of life, or from those temporal 
evils to which our species, by reason of sin, has 
become subject, — this fact, I believe, will be fully 
borne out, both by the foregoing Memorials, and by 
general experience, that, whatever the evils may be 
which necessarily belong to our temporal condition, 
the measure of evil will be greatly lessened, and the 
proportion of good greatly enhanced, by a strict 
attention to our duty to God our Saviour," and to 

H 



146 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

the religious observance of tlie Sabbatli-day, which 
He has commanded to be kept holy. The external 
evidences of these facts, indeed, on a great scale, as 
well as within the sphere of individual experience, 
are probably as numerous as the instances of rise and 
fall in the kingdoms of the earth — especially among 
those nations to which the Scriptures have been given 
— wherein we may generally discern the hand of God 
so dealing with them in blessings or judgments, as 
to verify the Scriptural statements — that ^^Righteous- 
ness exalteth a nation ; but sin is a reproach" — yea, 
and a curse too — "to any people !" And this obser- 
vation it were easy to illustrate in a most ample 
manner, did occasion require, both from the general 
records of the world, and, in an especial manner, 
from the eventful history of modern times. 

Though the line of argument for the Sabbath 
herein pursued, may be considered, by some Christian 
persons, as inferior in its grounds to that derivable 
from the direct testimony of the Word of God ; 
nevertheless, it stands commended to us, methinks, 
in this— its striking and convincing results. For 
every view of the subject, derivable from observation 
and experience, testifies, that the Sabbath is an insti- 
tution involving, most essentially and inseparably, 
both the present well-being and future happiness of 
mankind. Not, indeed, that the mere outward ob- 
servance of the original Sabbath — or our equivalent 
for it, the Lord^s day — will necessarily secure our 
religious advancement ; not that a superstitious regard 



GENERAL RESULTS. 



147 



to the day. without its diligent and wise improvement, 
will essentially advance our spiritual good or eternal 
happiness; but yet, — since the abuse and profanation 
of this sacred day, as we have so largely shown, are 
inseparable from manifold evils, and since the right 
improvement of it is essentially connected with the 
highest good, — we find, that every principle belong- 
ing to our nature may herein be engaged to urge the 
plea for its reverential observance. 

Recapitulating the mere heads of the testimonies 
already adduced in favour of the Sabbath, we find, 
that whether considered religiously or morally — 
physically or politically — temporally or eternally, the 
blessing of the Sabbath is amply and Providentially 
attested. 

That the sanctifying of the Sabbath has an import- 
ant influence on the religious condition of mankind, 
there can be no question ; for in whatever country, 
or among whatever individuals, the Sabbath is wholly 
disregarded, — true, spiritual religion is always wanting. 

That the Sabbath is highly important in a moral 
point of view, the direct attestations of good men, 
with the dying confessions of very many criminals, 
abundantly certify. 

That its observance is advantageous physically, we 
may discern in the sweet experience of the labouring 
man, as to the restoration and invigoration of his 
bodily faculties, as well as in the healthful and vigorous 
condition of the animals employed in labour, through 
the repose of this sacred day. 



148 



SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 



That the tendency of Sabbath observance is bene- 
ficial politically^ we may judge presumptively , from 
the circumstance of its desecration being made penal 
by a variety of statutes in the law of the land ; and 
exjyerimentally , we may judge, that the tendency of 
Sabbath desecration is evil, in the Commonwealth, 
from the notorious fact, that the class of individuals — 
in all nations in possession of the Bible — who the 
most disregard the Sabbath, is that which furnishes 
the great body of criminals, and that from which the 
violators of the law, and the illegal resistors of " the 
powers that be," are mainly derived. 

That its influence is most important and obvious 
temporally , we have largely endeavoured to shew in 
the foregoing testimonies, in the various facts of 
realized prosperity and temporal preservation, on the 
one hand, expressive of the blessing of Heaven on a 
conscientious observance of this sacred day ; v/ith the 
manifestations;, on the other hand, of a corresponding 
evil and curse on its habitual desecration. 

And that its influence is of momentous consequence 
in regard to the eternal condition of mankind, may be 
thus argued; — that since religion is the preparation for 
eternal happiness, whereas true and saving religion 
never flourishes if the Sabbath be disregarded, then, 
it follows, that the remembrance of the Sabbath to 
keep it holy, must be inseparably connected with our 
future weal. 

From principles, therefore, of common prudence, 
of real patriotism, of approved philanthropy, yea of 



GENERAL RESULTS. 



149 



personal seeking of good, as well as from the authority 
of scriptural truth and wisdom, we are urged to 
seek to improve the Sabbath diligently, and to observe 
the day strictly unto the Lord! And by all these 
different considerations we urge our plea, — and 
that not because there is wanting one grand and 
commanding principle of duty to God, as exhibited 
in His authoritative precepts, but — because God 
himself condescends to enforce his own commands by 
a similar variety of motives. By all the terrors that 
can fill the soul with dread ; by all the glories that 
can awaken desire ; by all the mercies that can fill 
the mind with gratitude ; by all the Saviour's suffer- 
ings that can melt the soul with love ; by every 
benefit that can interest the heart of man ; and by all 
the noble feelings which can animate the generous 
soul, — we are moved and exhorted in the different 
pages of the sacred volume to serve the Lord our 
God. Let us not abridge, then, the wide expanse of 
the Spirit^s influence by contracting it within that 
narrow range of operations adapted only for ourselves. 
Let us not, on the one Piand, debase the high prin- 
ciples of the Gospel, by resting content with the mere 
expectation of temporal good as a prevailing motive, 
or the fea7' of the Lord, bodily, as the ruling influence; 
neither let us, on the other hand, unqualifyingly fix 
the motive or infiuence so high above the ordinary 
moral apprehension, that any should be induced to 
abandon the pursuit, as of inaccessible attainment, 
because of the want of a fitting medium or step 



150 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

whereby to reach its benefits. Unspeakably happy, 
indeed, is the condition of that man who can grasp 
the love of Christ, as a constraining influence to every 
moral duty and act of obedience ; and yet, how^ever 
inferior in condition, "blessed is the man," as Revela- 
tion testifies, who fear eth always^'' He, therefore, 
who attains only to the lower influence, that of fear, 
is declared by the word of Inspiration to be "blessed;" 
but he who attains to that loftiest of motives, the 
perfect love which casteth out fear," is, doubtless, 
preeminently blessed. 

Wherefore, in presenting these records of Provi- 
dential testimonies to the Sabbath, in regard to tem- 
poral blessings, and in enforcing, in any measure, 
the duty of Sabbath observance by such considera- 
tions, the mode of argument, being in accordance 
with scriptural principles and truths, cannot, I think, 
be deemed unworthy of the object. 

Nevertheless, in thus prominently setting forth 
the connection betwixt our duty to God and our 
personal well-being, — with a view to the promotion, 
so far as one individual may hope to influence others, 
of a stricter and more religious observance of the 
day appointed with us to be kept as a Sabbath ; — ill 
should I discharge my conscience, as a Minister of 
the Gospel of Jesus Christ, were I to close this essay 
in such a manner as to appear to advocate obedience 
to the Divine commands on the ground, mainly, of 
temporal benefits. Such a motive, indeed, may and 
ought to have influence with those persons who are 



PLEA FOR THE SABBATH. 



151 



seeking their happiness entirely in the enjoyments of 
this life, for it appeals to the very interests which 
constitate the grand object of their existence. But 
those who, having higher views and feelings, desii'e 
to live for eternity, will find for the Divine commands, 
and for religious observances, a far loftier motive 
and nobler argument. For with those whom the 
love of Christ constraineth, — the dominancy of desire 
for the future and eternal good, over a present trans- 
cient indulgence, will, at once, be indicative of their 
new and heaven-born instincts, and become the sure 
and certain mark of a wise and understanding 
heart." And the frank decision of their enlarged 
hearts will no doubt be this, — that such is our duty 
to the Father who hath created us, to the Son who 
hath redeemed us, and to the Spirit who sanctifieth 
us, — that did the discharge of our duty involve the 
entire loss of temporal happiness, and the entire ruin 
of earthly prospects, tlie duty, as commanded by Him 
who has a Sovereign right over us, would still be 
imperative ! 

But imperative as the claims of the great Creator 
upon the creatures of his hand, must unquestion- 
ably be, whatever might be the sacrifices involved 
therein^ — these claims, blessed be God, are all en- 
forced by methods and exhibitions of goodness and 
mercy. As believers, then, in the sacred volume, 
we are called upon by the highest principles of grati- 
tude, the rather to be mindful of the goodness and 
mercy of the Divine appointments, and of the mo- 



152 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

raentous blessings they are designed to promote, than 
to debase our better feelings by an absorbing con- 
sideration of the penalties by which they are enforced, 
or the mere temporal consequences involved therein. 
Through the goodness of God we have the appoint- 
ment of hebdomadal rest to both man and beast, as 
an original law of creation and requirement of nature ; 
and, through His unspeakable mercy , we have the 
Sabbath likewise given to us, for the promotion of 
the superlative interests of our immortal spirits. 
And this, doubtless, is the grand and leading design 
of the institution of the Sabbath — that the day ap- 
pointed to bodily rest, by the prohibition of worldly 
labour, may be employed, with undivided attention, 
for religious edification. Whosoever, therefore, has 
at all correct views of the solemn importance of a 
future and eternal existence, with the necessity of 
present preparation for it, will not merely yield a 
negative acquiescence in this sacred institution, but 
most anxiously strive to improve it for the welfare of 
his soul. Then will he see sufficient reason why the 
day should entirely, and throughout, be given up to 
God ; why all worldly labour and conversation, yea, 
and worldly thoughts too, should, as far as possible, 
be excluded ; and why the remembrance of the day 
to keep it holy is to be esteemed, not only as a com- 
manded duty, but as a Divinely appointed privilege. 
Then, content with the employment of six days in 
worldly occupations, and for the pursuit of the things 
needful for the body ; he will strictly regard the 



PLEA FOR THE SABBATH. 



153 



seventh day as a consecrated season, and conscien- 
tiously employ it as the souVs day. And feeling by 
experience, perhaps, the difficulty of a spiritual 
progress, notwithstanding the Christian privileges we 
enjoy, he may be disposed to unite with the writer 
of these Memorials, in the deliberate conviction, — 
that the due improvement of the Sabbath, under the 
exhibition of the Gospel, and in subserviency " to 
the Kedemption of the world, by our Lord Jesus 
Christ," is an essential element in "the means of 
grace, and for the hope of glory 

Could the world at large realize the momentous 
importance of this Divine institution, surely the so pre- 
valent waste of the sacred hours of the Sabbath in sloth 
and indolence, with their sad profanation by labour and 
pleasure, would be changed for that pious zeal and 
stirring diligence which might vie with the eiforts 
of the men of business in their worldly occupations ? 
And could professing Christians, in general, but enter 
into the elevated views of Saint Paul, they would 
feel, doubtless, the things of eternity to be so infi- 
nitely momentous, as to throw the perishing concerns 
of time into the distant shade ; for then, like him, 
would they "count all things but loss that they might 
win Christ and be found in Him." Then, by such, 
would the day so adapted for our spiritual edification 
be esteemed "a delight, the holy of the Lord, honour- 
able too precious to be spent ' in doing our own 
ways, or finding our own pleasure, or speaking our 
own words,' and, therefore, meet to be devoted to 
God, and to God only! 



154 SABBATHS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 

Were all mankind truly religious ; did all consider 
the interest of the soul to be the " one thing needful/' 
—the object of the Sabbath, just declared, would itself 
be abundantly sufficient to command its observance. 
But because this is not the case — but, the rather, as 
the great mass of the world are found to be mainly 
engrossed in their worldly pleasures and occupations, 
— I have suggested the foregoing considerations, with 
the prayerful hope, that some of those who read may 
be induced to put the doctrine of the Sabbath to the 
test of personal experiment. And should any, with 
a due dependance upon the grace of Almighty God, 
be prevailed upon to make the trial, we have little 
fear for the result. In so doing, perhaps, it may 
please the Lord to cause them both to participate, 
personally, in the writer's experience, and to receive 
such convictions of a superintending and special 
Providence, as may lead them to grasp at more 
evangelical motives, and the enjoyment of higher 
and better principles. 

Connected with the subject of Sabbath observance, 
its obligations and its privileges, — there is an im- 
portant relative duty to which, in conclusion, refer- 
ence, with much propriety, I think, may here be 
made. It is the duty of consideration, one towards 
another, so that each individual, in every rank of life, 
may, if he so incline, he able to sanctify the Sahhath. 
The spirit of the Fourth Commandment, in its 
relative obligations, no doubt is, — not only that those 



PLEA FOE THE SABBATH, 



155 



who have control over others should exercise it, so 
far as fittingly may be done, for a due observance of 
the Sabbath-day throughout their establishment or 
household ; but that all who are in subordinate places 
in life should have equally secured to tliem, the 
privilege of rest from ordinary labour. Though it 
may not, then, be in us, as heads of families, to cause 
our children and servants to keep the Sabbath in that 
religious spirit which God requires ; yet it is in our 
power, and it is our bounden duty, to give them 
the opportunity i as far as is consistent with works of 
necessity and charity, of improving the sacred day 
for the rest of the body and the health of the soul. 
For there is a grave responsibility resting upon those 
masters, whoever they may be, who, from personal 
selfishness, deprive their servants of the time due 
unto God and their souls ; yea a responsibility as 
heavy, we solemnly believe, as if they deprived them 
of the tcages due to the work of their hands ! 

May Almighty God give His blessing to this 
humble efibrt to commend the importance and design 
of His holy day, and so apply His providential testi- 
monies to the convincing of the understanding, and 
the experience of His goodness and mercy therein to 
the touching of the heart, that he who readeth may 
apprehend the gracious influence of the Sabbath, and, 
in his conscientious observance of it, be privileged 
to experience the loving-kindness of the Lord ! 



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